


My insides are copper, I'd kill to make them gold

by ChicagosLights



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy
Genre: Dragon AU, Dragon!Andy, Dragon!Pete, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:20:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27219295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChicagosLights/pseuds/ChicagosLights
Summary: Patrick had dreams once, dreams he almost reached but in the end lost. To cope with this he went with a backup plan, start up a record shop in the city, Spin For You was successful enough that Patrick didn't need to worry about bills.Then by chance a friend of Patrick's sends out some demos he's done without his knowledge, resulting in one of the biggest dragons in the music industry stepping into his store one day.Apparently, he's decided that he's going to court Patrick
Relationships: Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz, background Trohley - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

“I want you to sing for me” 

Patrick stared at the man across the counter, he didn’t look like he belonged in a record store in the middle of a city, in fact he looked pretty snobbish and familiar

“Excuse me?” Patrick questioned, pretending to not be interested and flipped through the box of vinyls

Snobbish guy snorted and had the audacity to look irritated “Fine, put that aside for now. I’m going to court you” 

Oh, that’s why snobbish guy looked familiar, he was Pete Wentz. 

One of the biggest dragons in the music industry. 

Right, okay, so now that Patrick had that figured out... _what_ was this guy doing in a record store in the downtown part of the city that was considered “too hipster-ish for its own good”. 

“No thanks” Patrick finally says after he’s recollected his thoughts, continuing to flip through the vinyls debating on whether he was going to put them out or put them in the back room. 

Pete Wentz snorted, Patrick bristled as a manicured hand was placed over the vinyls, more annoyingly he noticed the dragon’s nails seemed to glisten like amethysts-oh, because there were actual little amethysts on them. 

“You know it’s polite to look at someone when they’re talking to you” 

This time Patrick allowed his cool to drop a little and blew out an annoyed sigh, Pete Wentz still looked irritated when he finally looked up “I’m not interested in any relationship with you. If you’re here to buy records you’re welcome to look around but otherwise please leave”

Now Pete Wentz looked genuinely baffled, mouth slightly open and Patrick had to stifle a smug snicker, the dragon blinked before setting the same annoyed look.

“You don’t know anything about me” 

“I know that you apparently don’t know what ‘no’ means, and that’s a very big red flag for me Mr. Wentz” Patrick in what was ballsy to him gently picked up Pete’s wrist and dropped his hand to the counter, the dragon looked like a baffled puppy “let’s go back to the beginning, what exactly do you mean you want me to sing for you? Do you assume every record store owner can sing?” 

“Not like you I bet” Pete Wentz responded quickly, a weird grin on his face that Patrick wasn't sure if it was a leer or he was genuinely happy “I heard your demos, no one sounds like you” 

“My _what?”_ Patrick felt his face turn red and surprisingly Pete Wentz took a step back “what do you mean demos, who sent you them?” 

Pete Wentz frowned “I don’t know, my assistant just forwarded the sound files to me. Your name was attached, I heard you singing, and here I am asking for you to be my destiny” 

“Your _destiny?_ Do you hear yourself right no-no that’s not even the problem. I don’t know who sent you those demos but it was without my consent or knowing” he was fuming, the record store came in second to Patrick’s music, also his _privacy_ “so what you heard me singing and decided ‘I’m going to tell this guy we’re dating whether he wants to or not?’ because again that’s a pretty big red flag for me” 

“Yeah, you established that you didn't send them already” Pete Wentz snapped back and for a brief second Patrick saw purple fire curl from his lips “I don’t know who sent them in but whoever it was apparently thought very highly of your voice, after hearing you sing I do as well. I heard your voice and fell in love with you without having to see you, I came down here to court you, the rest of the story is history. Or rather it’s not history since you seem to have some kind of preconceived notions about me” 

Oh _no,_ they weren’t preconceived, anyone in the music industry or obsessed with gossip knew about Pete Wentz; owner of DCD2, hailing from a prestigious dragon clan in Chicago, known as a playboy when he was younger and occasional flings happening here and there (though supposed after hitting 35 Pete Wentz had stopped that, as if that would detur tabloids though with their rumors) and most of all for some reason his words were more often or not a big downfall for musicians. 

Patrick let out another annoyed sigh and pushed the box of vinyls aside to lean on his arms against the counter “I have several issues with you right now, can you guess the big three? Someone sent you my demos without my permission, coming into my store _telling_ me instead of asking me about courting whatever that is and big number three is you acting like I should be _honored_ and _groveling_ at your fucking feet for you to even consider courting me” 

If Patrick were a dragon he’d have a bit of flames coming from his mouth as well, whether that would’ve deterred Pete Wentz at all he wasn’t sure. The dragon was now just staring at him with the same open-mouthed look, face switching from surprised to confused back to annoyed, it seemed he had something to say but his phone went off causing him to scowl at his hip before pulling the device out and heading outside. Patrick huffed and picked up the vinyl box, well assuming that shitshow was done he had to put these in the back and sort them out, making a mental note to also find out just who sent DCD2 his demos later. Leafing through the vinyls again to separate them into artists he was surprised to hear the bell ring again and annoyed to see Pete Wentz _again._

“It was business, I had to take it” Patrick blew out an annoyed sigh from his nose, Pete Wentz stood a little straighter but seemed to have lost some of his haughtiness when he walked in “I would like to court you, may I court you?” 

Had Patrick walked into The Twilight Zone? A mixture of annoyance and something Patrick couldn’t place was bubbling up inside him but was all squished down by the usual oily insecurities. 

“You only want my voice” Pete Wentz frowned “you don’t want me” 

“Of course I do-yes I do want you. No, I don’t just want you because of your voice, that’s just an...an addition to you” was that meant to be flattering? “I went about this wrong I know and I apologize for that, may I court you?” 

Now Patrick was...genuinely confused, he had no space inside him to be angry or irritated anymore, just completely confused as to how or why Pete Wentz thought he could just...well apologize but also that Patrick might forgive him and change his mind. Were dragons like this? Were all of them like this? The only draconic relationship experience Patrick had ever had was when he and a girl dated for a few months but they broke it off because Patrick wasn't dragon enough for her (you’d think she’d know that since he was _human_ ). 

He’s not sure what Pete Wentz took his silence as but Patrick wasn’t sure if he imagined the almost panicked look on his face for a second. 

“Twelve dates” Pete hurriedly said, Patrick stared at him confused making the dragon clear his throat “let me take you on twelve dates, if I haven’t, if you’re not interested in me still then fine. I know, you’ve made it very clear that I’m pushing, and if by even the first date you still want nothing to do with me alright I understand” 

Patrick processed this for a minute, Pete Wentz seeming to tense more and more before he finally spoke “why are you so insistent that it has to be me that you...court? Do dragons not take no easy or something, because seriously you not accepting no is genuinely worrying me” 

Pete Wentz winced, it seemed Patrick had knocked his bravado away finally “I...can't tell you that...not right now, I mean, in the future if there is a future yes I can tell you but I can't yet” 

“That’s a load of bullshit-” Patrick started but cut himself off, something about the bravado being gone and this...dare he say vulnerability was interesting “why twelve dates? What if it takes more than that to make me like you”

“Then it takes more than twelve. I offered twelve because of traditional courting, once a date each month, but if you’d rather we do the modern one then twelve dates and that’s that” now Pete Wentz seemed a little relieved but Patrick still hadn’t said yes yet “or we could do that if you’d rather?” 

12 dates with a guy that was considered the biggest jerk in the music industry, known for ruining careers and being the start of some and the guy that someone had sent Patrick’s honestly private demos to. Really, the more Patrick thought about it, what did he really have to lose? He was a 37-year-old man that owned a record store that made music that he never shared anymore save for maybe 2 people and a dream that he’d given up on when he was 25. 

So really? Why not. 

“Twelve dates, no more than that. If I say no again after our first date then you _will_ fuck off and you will delete my sound files, those demos weren’t supposed to be sent out” Patrick hoped his stern tone didn’t sound acidic, strangely the dragon being vulnerable for a second had won a tiny half point of sympathy from him. 

Pete Wentz’s face broke into a grin that again Patrick couldn’t tell if it was a leer or genuine happiness, he did however now notice how sharp the dragon’s teeth were.

“That’s fine, I’ll have my assistant delete them right away. When are you free next?” 

Patrick snorted “eager to see me so soon?” 

To his growing surprise Pete Wentz nodded “of course, I want to court you and it’s best to court soon. I can give you my-no, scratch that, it’s better to just contact each other personally right? Um, let me give you my number” 

Did he just say ‘um’? Had Patrick somehow unlocked a tiny bit of less formal vernacular from the dragon? Okay, now this was interesting. Patrick hummed as he handed Pete a pen and scrap receipt, number written down Patrick just said he’d text Pete when he wasn't busy and the dragon was either satisfied with that answer or probably assumed Patrick was lying. Regardless he bid him goodbye and a good day, leaving Patrick staring at the chicken scratch numbers and wondering if maybe he’d made a mistake or not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's gonna be tedious im sorry but to best explain and summarize what Patrick read in the book he bought read the end note to have a quick explanation for why he's freaked.

Patrick had a small group of people he’d show his demos to; Joe was a given since he was Patrick’s teenage-hood best friend, when Joe had started dating Andy (a pretty chill dude that Patrick had learned was a dragon after a rather pushy alpha had tried dragging Patrick out of a cafe, he’d seen some dragons fight but he’d never heard their warning growls before-hand) he’d also been added to that roster. Eventually, 2 became 3 and 3 became 4 and that was it; Joe, Andy, Travie (met between mutual friends), and Dallon (met at a music event, and okay maybe Dallons’ friend Ryan but Patrick still considered it 4 people). 

Travie didn’t seem like the kind of guy to take Patrick’s demos behind his back, he knew how anxious Patrick would get over things like that and if he liked something Patrick did he’d get permission first before letting others hear it (under Patrick’s supervision, call it obsessive but he mother henned his music). Dallon was as gentlemanly as they came and from the times Patrick had interacted with him he was a nice guy too, neither of them were up on the possible suspect list. 

Which of course left Joe fucking Trohman. 

Joe was a good guy, he was chill and he had stuck his neck out for Patrick before and was the most loyal friend Patrick could ask for; however that didn’t exempt him from pranks, sassing Patrick back, and as they got older poking fun at how dragons seemed to be drawn to him like a magnet. 

And of course, while Patrick hated to admit it, Joe was the reason that Patrick had almost reached his dream once upon a time. 

So as Patrick sat on his couch while Hoggle was sitting on his stomach glaring at the phone in the man’s hands Patrick debated on texting Pete first saying he’d be free next week Wednesday or if he should chew out Joe first (and deal with the backlash of JOe calling him an asshole for assuming wrong later). The cat meowed and pawed at Patrick’s chest making him hiss a little, sharp kitty claws. 

“Hey hey, don’t hurt daddy’s chest” Patrick scooted so he could sit and wrinkled his nose at his cat before giving him a few scritches behind the ear “I really put my foot in it today bud, what am I doing dating this dude? I should’ve just said fuck off, hell I should’ve called Andy maybe” 

Hoggle just wiggled before hopping off Patrick and disappearing into the hallway. 

Patrick sighed and decided to handle the Joe thing first before texting Pete, it took 3 rings before a tired “ _'llo?”_ came from the other end. 

“Were you sleeping?” 

“ _Napping actually, shit day at work. You good? You closed early today”_

Patrick blew out a sigh, okay maybe he should just bring up the demos instead of accusing.

“Had an interesting customer...I agreed to let Pete Wentz court me” 

_“You did what!”_ Patrick cried out and jerked the phone away from his ear, from the receiver he could hear a tiny “ _Babe! Where are those books you gave me?”_

Books? Patrick frowned and turned the phone to speaker, he’d rather not have his eardrum blown out. Apparently, Joe had left his phone where he’d been napping because in the background there was the sound of stuff being moved around and voices before the phone was picked back up. 

“ _Okay let’s back up a few steps, not to say your record shop isn’t great because it is but what was Pete Wentz doing there?”_

Patrick snorted “according to him, someone sent him some of my demos” 

“ _What? Who did that?”_ okay, Joe sounded genuinely confused so maybe it wasn't him “ _did he get them directly or did an assistant get one, he has to have one of those he runs a record deal after all”_

“Well yeah, he said his assistant got them and my name was attached. Look, I’m upset about the demos but to go back to the whole courting thing he barged in and said he was going to court me. I bitched at him that he couldn't just say he was going to do something and now I’ve found myself in a sort of...well he said give him twelve dates and if I still don’t like him by the end of it then he’ll stop courting me” 

Joe groaned and there was probably the sound of his hand hitting his face “ _Patrick, you don’t even know what you’re doing and you just agreed to it? You don’t need me to tell you how stupid that is. Look Andy doesn’t know where these books are, there's this dragon shop that you’re going to have to go to. You don’t know the first_ thing _about courting a dragon”_

“I know I’m going to sound stupid for this but how is courting different from dating if you go on dates?” Patrick heard a snicker and felt his face turn red “shut up asshole” 

“ _T_ _here is a difference, remember how I dated Holly?”_ why did Joe expect Patrick to remember 9 years ago? “ _We went on the usual date stuff that you’d expect from human dating. The movies, cafes, making out in alleys, sexy stuff”_

“Alleyway making out is not sexy” 

“ _Open your mind, anyway that was just dating because neither of us did what dragons consider traditional courting. Look the books can explain it better but I’ll keep this example going. Holly was a kind of green-colored dragon, so she liked plants and just nature, so if we’d been courting I would've gotten her specific gifts for a dragon like her and she would've given me gifts specific to my interests”_

Now that he mentioned it, Patrick did remember when Joe was starting to date Andy (or should he actually say court now? This was confusing him a little) he remembered Joe saying that he was going on a date with Andy and he’d bring something. When he’d come back to their shared apartment at the time he’d always bring something back and have a goofy smile on his face, did that mean Patrick had to get Pete a gift? Shit, did Pete think Patrick _knew_ about dragons? 

“ _Patrick?”_ oops, he’d zoned out on Joe “ _you alright?”_

“Have you been talking?” 

Joe snorted “ _no lucky for you, I was wondering if the line went dead or something. I’ll text you the store address and what books to look for, trust me you’re going to want to read them”_

“Wait but I don’t know what kind of dragon Pete is, won’t that be an issue?” 

“ _He’s famous, surely there’s something about his scales online. I could ask Andy, he knew Pete when they were younger”_

“Your boyfriend knew that asshole?” Patrick snorted trying to imagine hanging around a younger Pete Wentz, he probably acted like the dad to the jerk 

“ _Hey I know that sounds impossible given Pete’s track record over the last two decades but Andy says he used to be a pretty cool guy”_

“I guess life was a bitch to him” 

Joe hummed in agreement “ _Pete might’ve shown Andy, if not I’m sure you could just look up the family and find out. How long until the date?”_

“Well actually after I yelled at him he kind of chilled a little? He apologized for just demanding that we date and that's when we came to the twelve dates compromise. His bravado dropped kind of too, anyway he said to text him whenever I’m free but I’m not sure if I’m ready to do that since I don’t know what I’m doing” 

_“Well don’t keep him waiting too long, he’ll either get really offended or be terrified he really fucked up”_

Patrick laughed bitterly “well maybe I want him to think he fucked up, I said no plenty of times but he wouldn’t take it” 

_“Yeah I wouldn’t blame you normally, trust me dragons being persistent can be really shitty, but there is a chance that if he does freak out it’s not gonna be good for either of you”_

Oh, that sounded great “are we talking breaking into my house stalker level?” 

_“That might have happened at some point but I haven’t heard of any of those cases before. I meant more like he’d fall into a nasty emotional rollercoaster thinking that he made you hate him, maybe tear himself up about it, and either decide ‘okay this dude doesn’t want me’ or he’ll start sending you lots of gifts”_

“That sounds really…” 

“ _Desperate? I know but it makes senes dragon culture wise apparently. At least text him and make some bullshit up about seeing when you’re free so he doesn’t start making plans himself”_

Patrick sighed and rubbed at his face, somewhere in the house Hoggle was meowing meaning he was probably hungry “okay, gotta feed Hogs, I’ll tell you how things go” 

_“If he’s courting you and you_ really _don’t like him after the first date-”_

“He’ll leave me alone, that’s what he said” 

_“Good, if not just tell me and I’ll get Andy”_

Patrick laughed and shook his head, telling Joe bye so he could feed Hoggle.

* * *

The Cheshire’s Grin looked like it stepped right out of a fantasy, plants and lights hanging around the storefront and sign, a dragon rose window at the front with books surrounding it and when Patrick stepped in the whole place smelled like a bakery. Shelves lined the walls with books all organized by colors making it look like a rainbow going down the building's length, through a doorway Patrick saw more shelves making him wonder just how big this place actually was. It was pretty empty looking save for the guy behind the counter, Patrick walked over waiting a few seconds before awkwardly clearing his throat snapping the guy out his phone. 

“Oh shit, sorry” quickly he put his phone away smiling at Patrick “hey, what’s up? How can I help you?” 

“Hi, I’m looking for some books? I don’t know what kind of dragon he is but um, a guy’s courting me” Patrick awkwardly pulled his phone out but the guy had walked away from the register and over to a desktop “uh?” 

“Got a last name or idea where the clan’s from?” the guy looked towards Patrick with his head tilted a little, the older man didn’t imagine the once-over he got “o-o-or are you just looking in general?” 

Patrick frowned, that tone was familiar and he didn’t like it “from Chicago, last name Wentz” 

The guy nodded humming giving him another once over with a side glance before looking back at the computer “yep, found a Wentz family, they’re all golden dragons. Wow, you’re lucky, I’d _kill_ for a dragon like that to court me, never mind the money but I’d love an alpha to spoil me” 

“A _what?”_ oh great what _else_ did Patrick need to learn about dragons now? 

That outburst had the guy pausing mid-key type, when he looked at Patrick his face had realization dawning on it and he looked like a tomato “oh my god-I’m so sorry I thought-I just assumed that you were like an omega or a beta-you’re human aren’t you?” 

“One-hundred percent human” Patrick snapped, was what why the guy was looking him over? “I was going to show you my phone to ask about some books a friend said I should get. I don’t know what I’m doing but thanks for at least telling me Pete’s a...whatever a gold dragon is, can I get my other books please?” 

The young man’s face was red as he gathered several glistening books from the shelf behind the counter, after looking at Patric’s phone he disappeared beneath it for a few seconds before coming up with a brown stack all wrapped in paper and tied with twine, guess it wasn't uncommon for people to come in asking for the same books. 

“You said Pete Wentz right? I’ve seen him in a few magazines, are you an artist?” the guy was clearly trying to fix the awkward situation, Patrick tried not to sound annoyed as he sighed and nodded “you’re really lucky then, there’s like, _no_ photos of Pete’s scales anywhere on the internet. You’ll be the first to see them I guess, besides family I guess, since he’s a gold dragon though you’re going to have to spend _a lot_ of money. Hang on, let me grab you this book, it’s more specifically about precious dragons” 

“Thanks” Patrick pulled his wallet out and paused, the stack of books was daunting now “um….how much?”

The guy hummed as he rang everything up before wincing, uh-oh “um...not to make any assumptions but do you have two-hundred and thirty-six?” 

No in fact, Patrick did _not_ have that on his person “for-can I take some books off?” 

Again the guy added the numbers and still winced “not for any of these books” 

Great, Patrick would probably have more luck looking online than reading books, his panic probably sowed because the guy suddenly grabbed a paperback and started putting the books in, before Patrick could ask why the bag was pushed towards him. 

“Just trust me, dude, this isn’t the first I’ve done something like this. Our books are cheap but the ones you needed weren’t since you’re getting courted by a dragon that’s a precious kind. I know that’s confusing, just read the books and you’ll know” 

“Uh, okay? Thanks” Patrick nodded to the guy before heading out back out to his car. 

*

Hours later and 5 notebooks full, Patrick made a mental note to ask Pete for a new office chair, extremely plush and squishy preferably. Hoggle had kept him company while he’d been up in his home office, reading through books and writing down what he thought might be important info along with using the internet to decide if what he considered to be important was after all (so far he’d been doing pretty good, maybe Patrick had some kind of basic idea about dragons after all). The only one he hadn’t touched yet was the glittering almost treasure one, Patrick was pretty sure the jewels on the cover were fake, glass maybe from touch, but that one was probably about whatever precious dragons were. Hoggle meowed and headbutted his leg, Patrick laughing and stood up to head out of the office, it was lunchtime anyway; down in the kitchen Hoggle snacked on his usual food while Patrick wrinkled his nose, his cat made such gross sounds when eating but he adored him. 

“Don’t know if I should be offended or not that the cashier thought I was an omega or beta” Patrick hummed as he sipped some coffee, Hoggle only munched away at his food happily “still, there's so much to dragons I never even gave a second thought to. I really screwed up bud, Pete Wentz chose the wrong person to court-oh shit” 

Patrick had completely forgotten what Joe said, he hurried to his room to grab the phone from the charger, surely though Pete wasn’t already doubting everything right? The dude had walked in with such an asshole bravado Patrick doubted he’d give twice a thought about Patrick deciding the courting was off. He was surprised that Pete hadn’t put some stupid name for himself in the phone, just the blocky letters of _Pete Wentz_ was his contact name. 

_Hey Wentz, it’s Patrick Stump. From Spin For You? I don’t know when I’ll be free but I’ll text you as soon as I know for certain. Either today or tomorrow, don’t expect a specific time -_ Patrick 

Hm...maybe that was a little rude? Well served Pete Wentz right, Patrick pocketed his phone and headed back to the kitchen to finish off his BLT. after migrating everything to the living room Patrick decided to start taking notes on his laptop, jeez the book even had a clip on the side furtherly reminding Patrick of some fantasy tropes;

_This book will help you understand Precious Dragons on an academic level, personal wise obviously we can’t give you much. That’s up to you and the dragon you choose to court, we only help out keep the cultural differences from muddling up._

Well then, sounded pretty straight to the point. Part of Patrick just wanted to jump to the section about gold dragons but after going to the index there were a few chapters he realized he was going to need to read; _what are precious dragons, how to tell when a precious dragon is courting you, types of precious dragons,_ and of course _Gold Dragons._ Another half of the day gone and by sunset Patrick had 17 page notes that really they weren't even notes at this point, after all this research though Patrick was now determined to stop this courtship before even the first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So because I wasn't sure how to put the explanation for precious dragons in the fic I'll explain here  
> So Precious dragons refer to Precious metals or precious gemstone.  
> Precious dragons are known to be vainer and possessive/protective of their hoard and or family/friends, occasionally they can either be extremely vicious and violent or have an overly haughty cocky attitude (think rich snob that takes shots at someone for being on a lower class, but not so much in the newer generations per say).  
> To court a Precious dragon you either need to have quite the amount of money (they love expensive things that are akin to their dragon type or scale color) or be able to crack them early to find out what is near and dear to their hearts without having to put up a front (so say a precious dragon adores stuffed animals but they can't let anyone know that for fear of being seen as childish or weak).  
> Alpha Precious Dragons are known for being the more aggressive and let's say "needy" type, needing constant validation but not admitting that it's the need for validation. They have longer claws and sharper teeth (3 rows depending on the family's dental records in dragon form) and are more likely to choose a mate based on the dragon's own passion or possibly their mates body type (this has to do more with the instinct to breed and have a family more than vanity but sometimes vanity is a qualifier). They will spare no expenses in flaunting their riches off to the mate they desire to court, possibly even bullying them into asking for something quite grand and expensive to reaffirm that financially they are well off. It is expected that the court-ee however must also give the Alpha an expensive gift, over the years the usual price is now at least something about 100$ and it at least as to appear fancy.  
> At other points in the story I will go over the omega and beta precious dragons but for now the alpha precious dragon things are more important to the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

“You could buy him a watch” 

Patrick looked up from the magazine he’d been flipping through frowning “a watch?” 

Joe snorted and rolled his eyes, holding out the page he’d been looking at “look at his wrist, he wears them a lot. Pocket watches are classy, you could find one at a pawn shop and have someone spruce it up a bit, he won’t know the difference” 

“Yes he will, Precious metal dragons can tell by the weight and I guess even feeling somehow when something isn’t made of genuine precious metal” Patrick grumbled, looking back at the magazine in hand at Pete’s stupid smirk “I’m not sure if he’s the pocket watch kind either, probably a wristwatch honestly…” 

Joe shrugged and grabbed a different magazine, Patrick had decided to spend Saturday brainstorming with Joe about what to get Pete and so far? Their ideas weren’t going so well, either because Patrick was shooting them down before they could stick or because Andy would offer insight from the couch about gold dragons.

“Let’s take a break, you’re getting pretty red” Joe set the magazine and leaned down to scratch the sleeping piggy sleeping at Patrick’s feet “look don’t overthink this okay? Precious dragons tend to be dicks not gonna lie dude” 

Patrick frowned “isn’t a geode a precious gem?” 

“They can _have_ precious gems but geode dragons aren’t precious” Joe hopped up from his chair and walked over the couch to drape himself over his boyfriend “except my lovebug is a precious dragon” 

“Do _not_ call me that” Andy laughed and elbowed Joe off him “you’re annoying” 

“I could bench press you” Joe threw back. 

Patrick snorted from his chair and leaned on his hand watching the couple banter, there was a small part of him that felt a little envious of it, it wasn't that Patrick hadn’t dated per say but there hadn't been anything serious for a while. Smirking wryly to himself he mused on whether Pete might change that, at least if they ended up together and Pete just wanted Patrick for....well his music or sex at least Patrick could ask for things and maybe he could repair some of the shop or fix up instruments. Joe dragged Patrick to the kitchen to help him microwave leftover stir fry, at the kitchen table all talk changed to how the shop was doing and if the demo mystery was solved yet. 

“I’ve got a few people that are starting Tuesday, it’ll be nice to have help around” Patrick hummed while taking a bite “as for the whole ‘demo mystery’ I haven’t actually checked more thoroughly-hey don’t give me that face, I know I should but Pete said he deleted them” 

“So you’ve been talking?” Joe quirked a brow questioningly 

Well, sort of talking, after Patrick had decided that there was no way he was going to go through with the dating idea he’d checked his messages to see Pete had texted back in a painfully honest message that he was glad Patrick had texted back and that Patrick could take as long as he needed ( _“Business is business after all”_ the text had said and Patrick wondered where this attitude had been when they’d first met but then again tone through text was hard to read). 

“Kind of, anyway the point is that he deleted the demos and made sure his assistant didn’t have the original sent files either. I have at least compiled a list and since you admitted you’re confused you’re no longer on it (“oh screw you”) that leaves Travie, Dallon, and…” Patrick glanced over to the kitchen doorway, a little bit of Andy’s head was visible from the couch “that’s about it, maybe Dallon’s friend too but I doubt he’d do that” 

Joe hummed “were you about to blame my boyfriend? Andy, Patrick thinks you leaked his demos!” 

“Fuck off!” Patrick snapped, Andy was a chill guy but he’d rather not offend him

“I want a lawyer” came from the living room but that was it

Joe laughed at Patrick’s glare “you’ll find the mole eventually. I’ve got to ask though Patrick what’s so bad about Pete being interested in you musically?” 

“Well first off I don’t even know what songs he heard and second that was _private_ stuff. Third, I already had my shot once upon a time Joe-” 

Joe slamming his fork down stopped Patrick “bull- _shit_ , that wasn’t a shot, that was some assholes-” 

“Don’t hit our furniture!” Andy called from the living room 

Joe blew a raspberry his way before sighing and looking back at Patrick “you’re a musician Patrick, regardless of your age your stuff deserves to be heard. You’ve scored some things before so you’re at least known by movie musicians” 

“Movie musicians” Patrick questioned, quirking a brow and earning himself a raspberry as well “look the point is is that if I want to be noticed by someone in the music industry I’d rather not be noticed by some record deal that sounds like an early two-thousands emo band” 

“Patrick,” Joe said in a paternal tone, Patrick shot him a warning glare but that just made Joe grin “would you like me to bring something up?” 

“I’m going to end you right here and now with this fork” 

Joe snorted and put his hand dramatically over his heart “Babe! Come save me!” 

“Clean up the body when you’re done!” 

With that loving notion, Patrick laughed and continued eating his stir fry, the conversation now going back to what gifts he could give Pete. 

“Look whatever you get him if he gives you shit for it just remind him that you’ll call the courting off. You won’t make as much as him” Joe said while loading the dishwasher “besides, if he really does like you as much as it sounds and he’s that sure that he can win you over in twelve dates then the first date can’t be that bad”

* * *

The first date, was indeed, that bad. 

Patrick was still going over the events of everything while sitting in the Uber car drenched and shivering, tears still threatening to run down his face. This sucked, it _fucking_ sucked, being soaked to the bone because of a fountain pond was an obvious thing that would suck but really? He felt like he shouldn't have been surprised. Thursday morning Patrick had decided that he knew what gift to get Pete and the dragon had been more than happy to have the date later that evening, after stopping at a shop to buy a wristwatch that he hoped Pete would at least pretend to like Patrick had dressed in what he considered somewhat fancy and waited outside. 

He was embarrassed as hell that Pete Wentz had apparently gotten him a fancy ride to the restaurant, a huge bouquet sat in one of the seats with a little note for him that admittedly he hadn’t bothered to read in favor of telling the driver there were a few flowers he was allergic to so they had to toss the whole thing. The restaurant was a seafood one which Patrick did actually like, the hostess pointed him over to where Pete was sitting outside and a few other people were sitting around him, it looked like he was telling stories or something because they seemed to hang on every word. 

He’d barely acknowledged when Patrick had walked up, even when the other people went to their own meals Pete Wentz was still talking with a few and leaving Patrick awkwardly picking at the crab. Finally, when his attention had been on Patrick it felt just like when they’d been in the record shop, Pete Wentz talking like Patrick had won the lottery on being Pete’s choice of partner; it wasn’t like Patrick didn't try to talk though, he’d start to say something only for it to be closed off by Pete Wentz taking over the conversation or someone at another table would catch his attention. Then came the event that had caused Patrick to fall-or really he should just be honest and say was _shoved_ into the fountain; when Pete Wentz had finally let Patrick talk it he’d been there for more than 4 hours, it seemed at least that Pete Wentz was interested in what Patrick was saying or at least was good at pretending it. 

Since the book hadn’t really said _when_ the gift should be given Patrick tried to smoothly transition to it best he could, handing over the wrapped box and watching the dragon’s face turn to one of genuine surprise. Pete Wentz didn’t have a chance to open it though when a clearly awful laugh came from the table to their right, the guy half turned in his seat screamed “I spend money on my clothes” and to Patrick’s annoyance had a hand full of rings. 

“Seriously? _That_ fat ass is who you’re courting? You’re a gold dragon, have some self-respect” 

Patrick had felt his blood boil, steeling himself he looked at Pete Wentz wondering if he’d say anything only to see the dragon looked uncomfortable and was picking at the table cloth. The other two the jerk were eating with also looked uncomfortable, the woman scowled and slapped his arm saying he should keep to himself but now the guy was standing up and walking over to their table; now Pete Wentz was reacting, standing up quickly and letting out a deep growl that made the man pause but didn’t wipe off the smirk on his face. A growl though wasn’t enough for Patrick, it was hardly even a “fuck you” to the guy in human terms for Patrick and since that was all Pete seemed ready to do the man decided that no, he would not be letting Pete Wentz court him any further. 

Standing up from his chair Patrick ignored the confused sound of his name coming from Pete Wentz, as he began walking away he didn't hear the jerk coming up behind him until he was grabbed roughly and shrieked as he found himself drenched in the fountain. Someone helped him out of the fountain, his glasses were handed to him to see it was the woman that had scowled at him and the hostess from inside was now berating the man that had shoved Patrick. But where was Pete Wentz? Still sitting at the table with a confused puppy dog look on his face, Patrick spat out a bitter laugh causing the dragon’s attention to be back on him but he didn't care; he didn’t try telling the guy to screw off, he hadn’t said anything about Patrick being called a fat ass, and he hadn’t even come to help Patrick out of the fountain. Quickly thanking the woman Patrick had called an uber and was lucky to find that someone happened to be in his area immediately. 

Which is where Patrick was now, his house a few blocks away and the tears finally dripping down his face. He hoped Pete Wentz forgot about the package, he hoped someone would talk about how Pete Wentz had let someone shove his date and be known as a shitty person, he hoped Pete Wentz would leave him alone now, he hoped Pete Wentz-

How had Pete Wentz found where he lived? 

Because said dragon was standing outside Patrick’s house as the Uber drove up, his skin bristled and before the driver could finish whatever he was asking Patrick just thanked him for the ride and exited the car. Pete Wentz was picking at his sleeve when Patrick walked up to the porch, the dragon looked hopeful for some reason but that changed when Patrick- fueled by the anger and hurt Patrick told himself-slapped him as hard as he could. The crack made both of them flinch, Pete Wentz grabbed his face making some kind of wounded noises before giving Patrick a confused look. Really? _Really?_ He was _confused_ as to why Patrick had slapped him? 

“We’re _done_ ” Patrick snapped but it came out as a weak hiss as the tears hit him again “what is the matter with you? Who the fuck just lets some random asshole insult their date? You didn’t even help me out of the water, that jerk’s friend did” 

Pete Wentz rubbed his cheek and looked at the ground, at least he had the decency to look ashamed, looking back up at Patrick he closed and opened his mouth a few times looking lost for words before finally croaking something out. 

“I’m sorry” 

Patrick laughed bitterly, choking a little on the tears “you’re _sorry?_ You could have done anything, literally _anything._ You could’ve told him to fuck off, you could've told him to leave us alone, you could have-why are you here? How did you know where I lived?” 

“You texted me your address” Pete Wentz was looking to the side now, Patrick knew he was right but still what did he think coming here would accomplish “I”m sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t stop him from saying the things he did and I apologize for not helping you out of the fountain” 

“ _Fuck_ you!” Patrick half-screamed, Pete Wentz flinched and had the same confused puppy face “do you not realize how awful this date was? You ignored me when I came up, you barely let me talk, you didn’t even fucking care what I had to say! This was the worst fucking date I have ever had and let me tell you buddy I have had some _shitty_ fucking dates!” 

Patrick was panting when he was done, struggling to not hiccup as the tears blurred his vision, not enough though that he couldn't’ see Pete Wentz’s wide eyes. The spot he’d been slapped was now turning a dark red, Patrick hoped it would bruise, hoped it would be a reminder that Pete Wentz was a shitty person-

“Just get the fuck off my porch” Patrick croaked. 

Was it stupid that it hurt when Pete Wentz actually did? The dragon slowly walked down the steps leaving Patrick to hide his face in his hands crying, feeling stupid and even ashamed that he’d hit Pete despite his earlier hopes that he’d bruise. He heard a car door shutting assuming Pete was going to drive off, that didn’t happen though as instead he heard the sound of footsteps nearing him and one of his wrists was gently taken and pulled away from his face; something small and cold was pressed into his hand, Patrick sniffed and turned to look at whatever it was. Another sniffle and Patrick frowned, he couldn’t wipe his glasses off since his clothes were still soaked (speaking of he was probably going to get a cold, great) but if he was right Pete Wentz had placed a key ring with a little charm on it in his hand. 

“It’s typical I know, I’m sure you have enough music things in your life since you own a record shop but I thought...well maybe it would be something nice to keep your keys on” Pete Wentz was talking quietly, he hadn’t let go of Patrick’s wrist and was gently tracing a small circle on it “I’m sorry, I really am. Ahm, my driver said that the flowers didn't work out, I’m sorry about that too”

There wasn’t any resistance when he pulled his wrist back, holding the key ring closer to his face he saw the charm was a little record player, open with a tiny record inside. Patrick looked up at the dragon to see him watching Patrick warily, eyes looking to the ground when he caught Patrick’s look. 

“I didn’t know what to get you, going off from the basic things I know…” he trailed off, Patrick noticed that yes Pete Wentz’s cheek indeed was bruising “I’m sorry Patrick, I’m sorry this date wasn’t how it should’ve been” 

“And how should it have been?” Patrick asked, genuinely he wanted to know if what his own preconceived expectations for this date were what Pete Wentz thought. 

Pete Wentz worried at his bottom lip before shrugging lightly “a nice dinner, exchanging the gifts, just getting to know you. First date things” 

Okay, so not Patrick fawning over him “then tell me what I said the one chance you gave me to talk because I don’t know if noticed but you really didn’t let me say anything, hell you seemed to rather want everyone else’s attention-” 

and then Patrick's brain seemed to remember reading something, something that he should've recalled before the date started.

_Precious Dragons are known for needing admiration for their class, scales, or just accomplishments. This can be seen as being incredibly vain or purposefully ignoring someone during situations where they are out with a friend or possibly courting partner._

He wasn’t sure how his face looked but Pete Wentz looked wary, maybe defeated too. 

“You were talking about how you have some workers at your store now, they’re both in college and you don’t think they’re that interested in the job so much as the money but you said you appreciate the help at least. You said the crab was okay but it wasn’t really something you liked and I asked if maybe a different kind of seafood would be your taste” 

Pete Wentz awkwardly held up his gift “then you gave me this and then...and then I didn’t do anything about that guy jeering at us and insulting you” 

A Round Up ride of emotions was spinning around Patrick's head; he was still hurt about Pete not doing anything, feeling ashamed because he’d forgotten most of what the book had said besides things about the date, and was surprised that Pete had actually paid attention to him. 

“Can I open it?” 

Patrick blinked confused, why did Pete Wentz need permission? Oh, wait, Patrick had...right, Patrick had said they were done so why would it matter…

“It’s nothing great” Patrick mumbled and shrugged “But um...sure, go ahead” 

Pete Wentz handled the box like it was glass now, opening it and pausing with a head tilt reminding Patrick of a dog. 

“I like it” he pulled the watch out smiling at it, Patrick found himself not liking how sad the smile was “I like rose gold too” 

It hadn’t been super extravagant, just a rose-gold leather band wrist watch but Patrick had admittedly taken time to pick the gift out at the shop, the lady had been helpful suggesting soft colors to match light scaled dragons. Pete Wentz though was looking at it like he genuinely loved it, the Round Up of emotions had now changed into a spinning roller coaster. Maybe that’s why Patrick let out the sigh he did, maybe that was why he stepped a little closer to Pete Wentz to tilt the dragon’s face up and to the side a little to check on the nasty bruise. The dragon had gone completely still now and it might’ve just been Patrick's imagination trying to keep the moment sweet but as he brushed his fingers carefully over the bruise he thought he saw a light blush along Pete’s Wentz’s face. 

“You’re bruising, hang on” Patrick stepped into his house and shut the door quickly, he didn't want Pete Wentz seeing his house (yet or at all he wasn't sure).

Hoggle was under-foot as he went to the kitchen, the cat meowed his disapproval as Patrick wet a paper towel gently under the sink on account of disliking the annoying metal bowl his human wouldn’t let him play with. Pete Wentz had apparently taken interest in Patrick’s balcony because his neck was craned when Patrick came back out, the dragon quickly straightened himself looking embarrassed and Patrick tried to not find it endearing; he was still pissed yes but as he gently pressed the towel to Pete’s cheek and the dragon flinched the man decided he needed to actually talk to some dragons and not just read the books. 

“It’s cold I know but trust me it’ll help” Patrick’s pretty sure it’s just a placebo thing his mom used to do but hey, he’s feeling a little guilty.

“Okay,” Pete Wentz reached up and put his hand over Patrick’s, the contact sending a weird jolt up the man’s arm making him slip his hand away quickly “should I go?” 

“I think it’s best if you do yeah” Patrick started to turn back towards the door but paused, hand hovering over the knob “I’ll...I need to think okay? After today I don’t know...let me think about this whole thing okay” 

Pete Wentz had a mixed look in his stupidly wide eyes, hope and sadness wrapped in one. He nodded though and despite Patrick clearly tensing he reached over and brushed his hand over Patrick’s fist before heading towards what Patrick assumed was his car across the street. He didn’t stick around to see the dragon leave, heading back into his house and shutting the door behind him before sliding down against it. Hoggle came over and butt his head against Patrick’s side, his human had brought his knees up as much as he could to lean against his arms and his face was pressed into them. Hoggle wriggled his way between Patrick’s knees and arms eventually getting the man to laugh weakly and move so he could snuggle with his cat. 

“A keychain, it’s so...I feel like I should be upset that it’s something so simple but at the same time...it works?” Patrick sniffled and sighed, patting Hoggle’s back causing the cat to purr “he said he liked the watch and you know what Hogs? I think I believe him...what am I doing, Hoggle?” 

*

“ _I’m going to guess that on a scale of one-to-ten that it was an eight on worst date”_ well then, Andy was quick to answer his phone wasn't he?

“If you were so sure it was going to be a bad date then why did you let me go out with him” Patrick snuggled further into his couch with a huff “Joe at least sounded encouraging a little” 

“ _Hey, I_ do _want you to be happy. Joe wasn’t wrong either, the date couldn’t have been that bad. I, however, think a little more realistically and knew that the first date was going to be bad. Gold dragons out of the precious metal dragons tend to be pretty full of themselves”_

_“_ I know, I remembered a passage I read in the book when-well you probably already guessed we had a fight” Patrick looked sadly at the keychain on his table “I slapped him” 

“ _Good for you”_

“What? Aren’t you against violence?” 

Andy laughed and Patrick was pretty sure he was shaking his head “ _yeah I am, but as bad as it sounds Patrick dragons can handle hits pretty well. Even if you bruised him Pete can handle it, it’s more like a flick to the face for us”_

Well, that was at least a little better to hear “look I called you because I realized I honestly don’t know what I’m doing. The books helped but books aren’t real life” 

The dragon hummed and Patrick wasn’t sure if it was judgemental or not “ _okay, run by me how the date went first, and I’ll try and help. Keep in mind though I’m not a precious dragon”_

Somewhere in the background, Patrick heard Joe hollering “ _You’re precious to m-e-e-e-e-e!”_

So Patrick gave the run by, trying not to go into ranting territory and staying as clear as he could, by the end of it he was feeling the same Round Up emotions as before. Andy hadn’t interrupted once, occasionally there’d be a quiet noise that Patrick was sure was judging him and Pete Wentz, once he was up to the present where he’d decided to call Andy for help the story was over. 

“ _Yeah, that sounds about as bad as I’d expected. Alright, so the good things first or the bad things?”_

“Um...good things” Patrick frowned at Hoggle who looked up at him from the floor, what exactly were any of the good things about this date? 

_“Alright first and I know this sounds so weird, it’s probably got to do with our origins, but the flowers were a pretty big thing actually. Pete’s mom isn’t a precious dragon, so taking that into consideration he got_ _you flowers because that’s what the instincts on his mother’s side told him to do”_

“How do you know that?” 

“ _Didn’t Joe tell you I used to know Pete?”_ that’s right, he did “ _that’s baggage for another day, anyway that’s where the flowers came from. If both his parents were precious dragons you would've gotten something you wouldn’t have even wanted, probably a tiara”_

“Fuck you, I’d look okay in a tiara” Patrick felt his face heat up at that, no he’d probably look ugly 

_“If you want we can go over appearances for humans and dragons later. Anyway let’s get to the whole talking to people thing, you can take a guess that precious dragons are pretty vain in a way, not all of them are but a lot of them can be. This is bullshit I know but since you’re not Pete’s-shut up, let me explain-since you’re not Pete’s his instincts didn’t say ‘hey shut up your date is here, pay attention’. Until you and him have gotten to a point like that you’re going to have to actually correct him and remind him of things, like the conversation stuff? He did pay attention but he didn’t realize that he was hogging all of it at first”_

_“I can’t say for Pete when this will happen but trust me if you do the twelve dates thing he will eventually stop being absorbed in his little world and be aware of you. Now for the talking, Precious dragons like attention and I think they need it honestly, Pete was getting attention from those other people before you showed up so he was still more or less tunnel-visioned on them paying attention to him.”_

“So why didn’t he defend me?” Patrick sniffed, again glancing at the keychain and feeling a sting 

“ _That’s one that I’m going to have to speculate on. Sounds like dickhead was probably another precious dragon, either that or he was a super cocky alpha, that’s the only reason he’d have the balls to insult you in front of Pete. He probably thought he could embarrass you out, which he did and no shame in that, or he thought he could convince Pete to dump you before even giving you a shot”_

“Okay so? What’s Wentz, aren’t you both alphas?” 

_“We are yeah, but that’s another can of worms and yadda yadda generational stuff. Alpha-alpha relationships have started to be more of a thing, that guy probably assumed you were an omega or beta and figured he could swipe Pete from you. As to why Pete didn’t do anything or help you it’s because he was still tunnel-visioned and when the guy started insulting you he insulted Pete at the same time accusing him of not having any self-respect”_

Right, back to image, the book had said that precious dragons were desperate to keep those up; Andy continued saying that it wasn’t that Pete Wentz didn’t want to defend Patrick but it was that since the guy had been probably giving him some kind of praise or was probably acting charmed at whatever he was saying it had thrown the dragon for a loop when he’d not only insulted Pete but Patrick as well. 

“ _You said he liked the watch though?”_

Patrick nodded, then coughed awkwardly “um, yeah, he...yeah. He gave me a keyring” 

“ _Do you like the keyring?”_ Patrick hated how much Andy sounded like a parent then 

“It’s...practical, and I have to lock up different things in the store and my house key and...it’s practical” 

Andy hummed “ _you like it though, it has something dorky and you’re dorky”_

“It has a record player charm, I don’t think that qualifies for making me dorky” except yeah, Patrick knew he was a music snob, “he said he liked the watch and the watchband. So I guess I made a pretty okay choice after all, since I don’t know anything about him besides...well you know, tabloid stuff and whatever else he posts online” 

_“Well, I think you did good then if he liked it. You liked his present too, that’s good for him but since you said to give time to think that’s going to have him on edge”_

Patrick huffed “whatever, he’ll just move on, it’s not like I’m his _one_ or whatever” 

The line went silent then, almost deathly so. 

“Andy?” 

“ _Sorry, thinking. Look I don’t know if he’s still the Pete I knew or if that Pete is anywhere in him still but I don’t think he’s gonna move on from you that fast. You made him realize he fucked up, he apologized and it sounds like you made it very clear that isn’t gonna cut it with just words, if you_ do _go on another date keep in mind what I said Rick. Get his attention, remind him he should have his attention on you and not ignore you but also make sure he knows you aren't angry about”_

“I’ll try” Patrick sighed and rubbed his face “thanks, for talking with me and telling me stuff” 

“ _Don’t mention it, it’s easier to talk to a dragon than read a book. You sound pretty tired too, get some rest. If you want tomorrow we can go over the dynamics and why so many folks think you’re an omega”_

“That’d be nice yeah, tell Joe I said hi” 

“ _Will do, sleep well, Patrick”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering why Patrick is referring to Pete as "Pete Wentz" it's because he doesn't really know Pete yet so so far Pete is "Pete Wentz" because he keeps the front up.  
> Will it eventually drop?  
> Will Pete Wentz just be Pete eventually?  
> who knows  
> I do obviously, I'm writing this


	4. Chapter 4

Friday’s were pretty slow; Tuesday and Wednesday were always the busiest with people leafing through the vinyls and asking for what Patrick had, looking for radios or record players, and sometimes talking with Patrick about music and the odd person who recognized him for his scores. Nicky was manning the register (of sorts, sure it was her second day working but she was staring at her phone still and Patrick was a little concerned at her not even glancing up when he walked in) and in the back he could hear someone singing to something electric. 

“Any plans this weekend?” Nicky asked while sorting the money out, Patrick would’ve rather she not do that while the store was still open 

“Just seeing friends” Patrick hummed, pausing to debate whether or not someone would buy any of these Pearl Jam albums “you?” 

“Maybe getting drunk, there’s a new bar in town that has these crazy drinks that are supposed to get you pretty fucked up. My boyfriend was thinking of taking me but even if he doesn’t I’ll go myself, you want any recs if I go?” 

Patrick suppressed his laugh, drinking wasn’t really his idea of a good weekend “no thanks but the offers appreciated. What’s the name of the place? I’ve got a buddy that likes to party” 

“Sunflower Glass” Nicky made a face at her phone before setting it down to actually look at Patrick “I guess some glass dragon dude owns it” 

“Sounds like an artsy place so I guess it fits if it’s a glass dragon” hm, nope, put the Pearl Jam in the back for now. 

Nicky hummed and picked her phone back up, again making a face before excusing herself to take a call in the backroom, walking out of said room to avoid her probably was Hayley. 

“Hiya Patrick” she hummed as she took the seat behind the register.

“Hi yourself, how’s work been today?” 

Hayley gave him a wry smile glancing back at the hall to the backroom “fantastic, drama all around and a few people mad at us for not saving any vinyls” 

“That’s not how record shops work” Patrick chided, they rarely had customers like that thankfully but when they did he wanted to strangle them “any plans for the weekend?”

“Hm, not really? Chill out with my dog, maybe sleep and eat all day” Hayley laughed a little and shrugged “work on music too possibly, school work is an obvious but I’ll have time to work on my own personal stuff” 

“Always make time for your music” Patrick agreed, his music major had been stressful but a relief at the same time in school “tell your dog I said hi” 

“I will”

Again they shared a laugh; Haley, Patrick was pretty sure, even if she was doing this for the money did know her stuff about the vinyls while Nicky was definitely here for a quick buck. The two talked about whatever then, music, life, pets, how college was going and talking about maybe having a jam session sometime when Nicky walked back out with a confused look on her face. 

“Um, hey Mr. Stump? There was a knock at the back door and-” Nicky was interrupted by the front door opening and a delivery guy standing there “yeah that” 

“Oh, hello” Patrick frowned as he walked over, the man handed him something to sign further confusing him “uh I didn’t order-” 

“Delivery, from a Mr. Wentz to Patrick Stump” the guy held a somewhat small box, at least the size of a bread box “just sign there sir” 

“O-oh, thanks” quickly he wrote down his name and took the box, bidding the guy goodbye before staring at the blank box “what in the fuck Wentz” 

“Boyfriend?” Hayley asked from the register, she at least was minding her own business 

Nicky however was invading Patrick’s space trying to look at the box “Wentz? Like Pete Wentz? I thought he was a bachelor” 

Patrick frowned at how Nicky almost sounded offended “my personal life isn’t your concern unless I feel open to talking about it. Go about your business please, I have to see what this is” 

With an annoyed scoff Nicky just wandered over to some boxes that had yet to be gone through, Hayley told Patrick she’d hold the fort down. Patrick’s office wasn’t really an office besides a desk and some actual chairs (he was going to pretend that for the first few years of the shop they were _not_ plastic beach chairs), sitting down Patrick did see in small print the words “Fragile”. Oh great, wasn’t yesterday’s fiasco enough? Was he sending an apology gift? Patrick’s eye twitched before he huffed a sigh and took the box cutter from a drawer, what was inside was...not what he was expecting. 

It looked like a sweater maybe. 

Frowning he pulled it out and unfolded it to see it was a cardigan, it was a soft seashell pink and was incredibly soft. There was a little embroidered heart where Patrick assumed the heart was and a small smile crept onto his face, it was a beautiful cardigan and wasn’t too showy so he could wear it. Why was it marked fragile though? Peeking back into the box Patrick then saw why, a glasses case sat in the bottom and when he opened it Patrick paused to make sure he actually knew what he was looking at; the glasses were just frames, no lenses making Patrick wonder if Pete Wentz hoped Patrick would go and get lenses himself (which he did slightly appreciate, at least Pete Wentz wasn’t creepy enough to know his eyesight), but upon looking closer at the frames Patrick noticed the way they were shining didn’t quite look like they were just normal plastic. 

Was there a note or something? Patrick didn’t see one in the box, was there one in the cardigan-oh, there it was, picking it up from the floor the first thing he noticed was that Pete Wentz had chicken scratch handwriting and the second being that it was handwritten: 

_Patrick_

_I’m sorry again, I know this is too soon obviously and the way I acted on our date was awful to you. This can be either an apology gift if you want or it can be an early gift for our next date if you are willing to give me another chance._

_You don’t need extra glasses I’m sure but I thought maybe you would like these? The frames are made of Tiffany crystal and there's a few bits of diamonds inside them, maybe these could just be your party frames if you want. The cardigan I thought maybe you’d like since you’ve worn them, maybe the pink is a bit much but I thought you’d look nice in it._

_Let’s talk about why I mentioned party, there is a party I’ve been invited to for a friend that recently had some success getting signed, if you don’t mind I’d love to have you come with me._

_No rush, the party hasn’t actually been set on a date yet but if you’d like to I’d love to have you come with._

_Yours if you still want me, Pete._

Tiffany. Fucking. Crystal. 

“You...fucking…” Patrick blew out a sigh and set the note down to look at the frames again, they were beautiful…

Okay, so Patrick was allowed to just stop this now, just like the note had said. Except as Patrick looked at the cardigan again and the note, re-reading it a few times, everything Andy had talked with him about was making him reconsider; yeah it was too early for him to text Pete Wentz back, he was going to give it a few days, right now Patrick decided to just focus on work. Nothing had really changed when he went back out front, Nicky had gone back to the register but her face was still a storm and Hayley had gone through a few boxes which he appreciated. What crawled up Nicky’s ass anyway? Patrick sighed and went to the back room to grab some more boxes, he wasn’t sure if she was going to work out after all. 

“You can head home early if you both want,” he said as he set the box down to go through it “it’s a slow night anyway” 

“Cool, see you” Nicky said quickly, practically running out of the store. 

“Ignore her, she’s just pissed you’ve got a precious dragon dating you” Hayley sighed. 

Patrick frowned “is it well known what Wentz is?” 

“His family is from a prestigious clan in Chicago, plus they’re all gold dragons so in the dragon community he’s big. And you know, Decaydance” Hayley laughed at Patrick’s scoff “that’s cool though that you guys are dating. Or courting?” 

“Isn’t that private info?” that was the impression the books had given him 

Hayley laughed again but did look embarrassed “yeah actually, sorry. Still, that’s really sweet he sent you a gift. Got a date this weekend planned?” 

“Yeah it’s...it’s a nice gift, and no we’re still thinking about date times” Patrick smiled a little and went back to sorting through the vinyls.

* * *

Oracle was only a few blocks from Joe and Andy’s place, also it was where Joe met him and Andy also owned the cafe. Patrick was sitting by the window trying to not laugh as he watched a guy argue with Andy behind the counter, he’d said Patrick could walk him home since he still had to tell Patrick about dynamics but it currently looked like that might take a bit. Most of the patrons had left leaving the cafe mostly empty save for Patrick, the dude arguing, and 4 other folks, Patrick just sipped his tea while trying not to giggle in the process; Andy was pretty chill, it was hard to get him mad unless it was something major, so watching this dude huffing and puffing smoke while Andy just looked at him calmly and responded even calmer was a show. 

A bad show however because Patrick didn’t realize someone sat across him until the man cleared his throat, Patrick jumped a little then glared lightly, who just sat down at a random table without asking? 

“You looked a little lonely over here, s’taht guy over there your date?” he nodded in the direction of yelling guy. 

“No, I’m waiting for the owner actually” Patrick responded icily, taking a drink hoping to make it clear he was ignoring him. 

The man just laughed though, Patrick took in his curly hair pulled in a ponytail and the ripped jeans with a red flannel look he had going, this guy either thought he was a catch or he was looking for a quick fuck. 

“You look pretty tired, why don’t we get out of here and get a drink? I know this great bar nearby” 

“No thanks” Patrick said flatly

Ah, there it was, the brief second of irritation on the man’s face showed reptilian eyes; this dude was a dragon. 

“Not into drinking, that’s fine, it’s still got some great food. C’mon, we could get to know each other” the guy was leaning on the table now with an annoying smirk, Patrick didn’t miss the way he was inching his hand towards his own “you smell _heavenly,_ by the way, I bet you hear that all the time” 

“ _Excuse_ me?” Patrick did actually, from dragon customers usually but that didn’t stop him from choking on his tea.

Before the guy could say anything else a tattooed hand slammed down between them making both jump, the guy looked annoyed for a split second before looking nervous, probably because of the growl Andy had let out sounding like a thunderstorm. 

“We weren’t doing any-” 

“He’s not _interested_ so get that _through your head”_ Andy growled, the light coming in from the window catching his tattoos and making the crystals beneath glow brightly through the ink. 

The guy swallowed and mumbled something, maybe an apology or another excuse, before running out of the cafe. Patrick snickered seeing him trip a little down the street before looking back at Andy, he was still watching after the guy with an annoyed look on his face before sighing. 

“Ready to head out?” Patrick asked, reaching over and rubbing Andy’s soothingly. 

The dragon snorted letting out a small laugh “yeah sure, let me lock up though” 

The sun was setting by the time the two were finally heading out, Patrick hummed and stared at Andy’s tattoos again once they were outside, when he’d first met Andy the guy had practically been glowing outside with the way the light had been hitting the angel aura quartz beneath his skin making the tattoos seem ethereal almost. 

“You don’t usually get mad like that” Patrick said once Andy had finished locking the front door 

Andy laughed and shrugged “yeah but that guy wasn’t going to go away unless someone intimidated him and no offense Patrick but you’re too soft” 

“I’ll ask Joe to bench press you”

That earned another laugh and the two started heading down the street, already people were laughing and out on the town with traffic looking so fun. 

“Hey, that guy mentioned that I smell good, what’s that mean because I’ve heard it _a lot_ from other dragons” Patrick asked at a stoplight, a few people gave him weird looks but he ignored it.

Andy hummed something unless in thought before answering “That’s going to be a very long topic, I’ll tell you that when we get home but for now I’ll just tell you that you smell like peaches and lavender” 

Patrick felt his cheeks flush as he scowled at his friend earning a laugh, talk stayed about work that day, and how things were at home until they reached the steps leading up to the blue front door. Inside came barking and when the two stepped inside Louis came racing downstairs snorting and yapping his little head off, jumping up on Andy’s legs. 

“Is daddy home, Louis?” Joe called from the living room, he appeared around the corner looking exhausted. 

“Please don’t make me throw up, I had very nice tea” Patrick warned, Joe had a shit-eating grin on his face as he walked up to the two giving Andy a no doubt purposefully long kiss “I’ll stop being your friend too” 

“Loser, you’re no fun” Joe stuck his tongue out before letting go of Andy “you won’t leave me either, I know too much dirt on you” 

Patrick snorted “oh yeah like what” 

Joe’s grin was worse than before “I know your dic-”

“Joseph Trohman I love you but I’d like to be spared the details about your best friend’s penis” Andy interrupted, it wasn’t like he didn't know the story already but Patrick and Joe could snipe at each other all evening “you look tired babe, go sit down. I’ve gotta talk with Patrick” 

“More lessons, fun” Joe drawled but headed back to the living room, Louis in tow. 

“Alright so, smells,” Andy said once he and Patrick were seated at the table “back before dragons integrated into human society scents were very important, it was a way of telling who was what and whether they were the same dragon species as you or not. As dragons and humans started to come together the smells started to not matter as much due to a lot of humans smelling like omegas and betas but that doesn’t exist for humans so dragon culture had to adapt” 

Okay, that made sense “so then...I smell like fruit and flowers? Does that always mean I’m an omega?” Patrick wrinkled his nose wondering if that smelled good or not 

Andy laughed and shook his head “not always no, depending on the dragon though they might think that it is because that’s sometimes considered ‘feminine’ by close-minded dragons. When a dragon says you smell good it’s a way they want to flirt with you and also a way for them saying ‘hey I can smell you’ but in that same second of a dragon smelling someone they might realize you’re human and not dragon but still try and flirt anyway” 

“So then the customers realize after they...smell me, that I’m human?” 

The dragon nodded “if you need an example I can use me and Joe, that’s the best one we can use anyway” 

Patrick nodded but stilled a little “please don’t get into mushy territory though, I don’t wanna know intimate things” 

“He smells amazing when we have sex” Patrick gagged audibly and flipped Andy off making him laugh “Joe smells like rain and kiwis, if we were talking about social statuses from older days he’s like you, stuck between being a beta or an omega. So here comes the next factor, appearances” 

Patrick wasn’t sure if he should let it get to his already low self-esteem; traditionally Omegas with more fat were usually chosen due to the fat being seen as warmth for the babies if they chose to have any children, seen as a warm “nest” of sorts for the alpha to lay on and protect their mates, and during the colder months the omegas were usually more active than the alphas when it came to hunting (unless of course, they were a kind of dragon used to cold climates). So apparently because Patrick had was fat he was seen as an ideal mate of sorts, him having an incredibly sweet scent also drove home the thought that he was an omega or beta whenever dragons met him. 

“So Pete wants me because I’d be a good lay and could give him kids if I was able to” Patrick mumbled doubtfully 

Andy didn’t like this though judging by the growl he let out that scared Patrick “give yourself some credit, Rick, okay? You smell really sweet and if all Pete wanted you for was sex then trust me he would’ve just been upfront and tried getting in your pants instead of asking to court you. You smell really good, he probably likes that smell, but also let’s take this into factor. How’d he find you?” 

Patrick frowned “my demos, the first thing he said when he came into my store was ‘I want you to sing for me’” 

“He’s not Ursula, Patrick!” Joe’s voice came from the living room. 

“Shut up peanut gallery!” Patrick called back, Andy rolled his eyes and Patrick huffed “okay so if he doesn’t want me just for sex then what? My singing voice? Isn’t it like, morally wrong to date someone that you sign” 

“I own a coffee shop Patrick, not a record deal. I wasn’t saying he wanted to sign you either, I was saying take into factor he didn’t look anything up about you except where you worked. Be offended if you want about dragons assuming you’re an omega and let’s be real we know they assume omega first but there’s my crash course into omegas and betas” 

Patrick frowned and looked at the table, there was a new ugly cloth over it that he was certain Joe had bought on account of the weird mushrooms looking vaguely penis-like. While that answered his question about why dragons still try to flirt with him that didn’t clear up his curiosity as to why Pete had chosen him. 

“Don’t overthink it alright? He likes you” 

*

After dinner, Joe demanded to see what Patrick’s gift was, after arguing about the dog hair and other excuses that were as thin as dragonfly wings he relented and allowed him to open the box. 

“ _ Diamonds _ in the glasses?” Joe turned the frames over in his hands “he must be sorry”

Patrick sniffed “I can either take this gift as an apology and never talk to him again or I can take this gift and...I guess wear it to a party” 

“A party? Doesn’t really sound like your thing” Joe handed the frames back then pulled the cardigan out “as if your collection wasn’t wide enough” 

“Hey, I got rid of a lot of hats and cardigans” Patrick huffed and snatched the cardigan back, Joe snickered at how pink his face was getting “I haven’t even said if I’m forgiving him or not” 

“Peanut gallery comment, you have” Joe ducked from the pillow Patrick threw at him “hey! I’m just saying, I know you alright? You’re going to forgive him but you’re not giving him a second chance to fuck up” 

“I’m not an open book, Trohman” Patrick grumbled. 

Joe just shrugged and got up to grab the pillow “well try the cardigan on and see how it looks” 

“You can’t change the subject” he did anyway, he wasn’t sure how seashell pink was going to look with a Costello shirt but might as well see if it even fit

Joe hummed while leaning over the couch giving him a once-over “minus the shirt it looks good on you, how’re the sleeves?” 

“What are you a fashion designer suddenly?” Patrick tugged a little on the sleeves giving him slight mitten hands “they’re-I like them, they’re how I like the sleeves” 

“It looks good on you, chill” Joe flopped back in his chair with a sigh “look, if you really don’t want to forgive him that’s fine but I know you Patrick and I know that you’re going to give him another chance but you  _ won't’  _ let him get another if he fuck’s this one up” 

“Shut  _ up  _ about that already” Patrick snapped, this time Joe held his hands up

“Okay, okay I will” 

“ _ Diamonds _ in the glasses?” Joe turned the frames over in his hands “he must be sorry”

Patrick sniffed “I can either take this gift as an apology and never talk to him again or I can take this gift and...I guess wear it to a party” 

“A party? Doesn’t really sound like your thing” Joe handed the frames back then pulled the cardigan out “as if your collection wasn’t wide enough” 

“Hey, I got rid of a lot of hats and cardigans” Patrick huffed and snatched the cardigan back, Joe snickered at how pink his face was getting “I haven’t even said if I’m forgiving him or not” 

“Peanut gallery comment, you have” Joe ducked from the pillow Patrick threw at him “hey! I’m just saying, I know you alright? You’re going to forgive him but you’re not giving him a second chance to fuck up” 

“I’m not an open book, Trohman” Patrick grumbled. 

Joe just shrugged and got up to grab the pillow “well try the cardigan on and see how it looks” 

“You can’t change the subject” he did anyway, he wasn’t sure how seashell pink was going to look with a Costello shirt but might as well see if it even fit

Joe hummed while leaning over the couch giving him a once-over “minus the shirt it looks good on you, how’re the sleeves?” 

“What are you a fashion designer suddenly?” Patrick tugged a little on the sleeves giving him slight mitten hands “they’re-I like them, they’re how I like the sleeves” 

“It looks good on you, chill” Joe flopped back in his chair with a sigh “look, if you really don’t want to forgive him that’s fine but I know you Patrick and I know that you’re going to give him another chance but you  _ won't’  _ let him get another if he fuck’s this one up” 

“Shut  _ up  _ about that already” Patrick snapped, this time Joe held his hands up

“Okay, okay I will” 


	5. Chapter 5

The mystery of the demo-stealer (revealer? Ugh, Patrick wasn’t that grand with names) wasn’t entirely forgotten but it was something he’d pushed to the back of his mind for the moment, at least until now. Friday morning was waking up to waffles and Hoggle in the mood for cuddles, coffee sitting on the table Patrick opened his laptop to check emails and work on music. Junk mail, junk mail, something about Guitar Center filing for bankruptcy (concerning but hey, maybe he could grab some deals), a few bills- oh? Patrick frowned and scanned the subject of the email again, Concerning _your demos_. 

Oh joy, was it Pete messaging him? Whoever the thief was? 

He opened it after taking a big gulp of coffee and scanned over the page:

_To Mr. Stump_

_My name is Victoria Welsh and I am an assistant to Mr. Wentz, I’m sending you this email in regards to the demos we received. I apologize that they were sent from a source who wasn’t you, as requested by Mr. Wentz I have deleted all the sound files sent to me personally and have overseen any other ones sent by the same anonymous under your name have been removed as well._

_Also requested by my boss was to see if we could find who this anonymous sender was, all I can give you is this email which I will be honest seems like a fake account. I hope it helps you in your search for who this was and once again apologize for the mess._

_V. Welsh_

Others, how many did whoever this was send? That made Patrick’s stomach curl a little as he sighed, so whoever it was had heard his music before more than just once. Besides this mysterious anon the email itself sounded...a little off to him, maybe it was just how formal and stiff it was but wouldn’t giving Patrick that email be a violation of someone else’s privacy even if it was a throw-away account? No, he was just sounding crazy. Taking another sip of his coffee Patrick decided to not message that email, he didn’t know if it was a phony or not but he was pretty sure whoever it was could threaten to sue DCD2 for allowing other people to invade their privacy (even though _they_ invaded Patrick’s). 

He paused looking up at the ceiling, there was a fly that seemed to be obsessed with the ceiling fan and the continuous buzzing was getting annoying but it wasn’t what had Patrick thinking; the most recent time he’d shown anyone demos was emailing Dallon and Travie, so that did write Andy and Joe off of course, but he still doubted that either would go behind his back and send things to a record deal. Patrick felt a twinge of guilt at the next thought, what if someone else had been around when Dallon or Travie had listened to the demos? There was a possibility but then that wouldn't explain why someone had gotten their hands on the sound files, god he was sounding like a regular nutcase now wasn’t he? 

“I should just let this go but I can't” Patrick mumbled, scritching behind Hoggle’s ear while the cat purred “what do you think, bud? Do you think that email sounds fishy too or do you think I’m just losing it” 

Hoggle just kept rubbing his head against Patrick’s hand, content in his own little world. 

Patrick smiled and laughed “good thing I left the cardigan in the box, or else I’d show up to the party with cat hair-” 

He cut himself off, stopping the scritches making Hoggle huff and bat at his owner’s hand to continue, when he didn’t though his cat huffed again and walked to the other side of the couch to snuggle a pillow. Patrick came back to reality a few seconds later blinking at the spot where no cat was, show up to the party huh? He hated it when Joe was right, sinking back into the couch more Patrick sighed and looked at his phone on the table. He hadn’t texted Pete Wentz back, he wondered if the dragon even really was waiting for him still or if the note was just for show. Really though, what was the worst that could happen? Already their first date was a shit show, he’d slapped Pete Wentz even though Andy said it wouldn’t bruise that badly, and really they had nothing in common as far as Patrick could see. 

So yeah, he sent a text asking if a date had been set for the party yet. 

Nothing happened right away, Pete Wentz was probably busy or sleeping in or...looking at treasure, whatever dragons do on Saturdays. So Patrick set his phone back down and pulled up GarageBand, might as well get some stuff done in the mean time-actually, he should probably schedule an appointment to get his prescription into those frames. Saturday morning passed fairly quickly then, GarageBand and half-paying attention to _The Toys That Made Us_ on T.V. By the time lunch arrived Patrick had ordered Taco John’s and as he went back to the couch with food bag in hand he saw his phone briefly light up with a notification.

_It might be too soon, it’s this Thursday -_ Wentz

_I could choose a different event for us if you’d rather_ \- Wentz

_That works fine, just send me an address_ \- Patrick

_Perfect_ \- Wentz 

Patrick stared at the phone for a few seconds, nothing happened so he set it back down and went back to his Taco Johns. 

*

Was it weird Patrick had actually gotten Pete Wentz a gift? This was a party, after all, it felt more right to give whoever was throwing it a gift. Still, as he parked along the road that was already too full to not be obvious an event was going on he picked up the little box he’d gotten and rolled it around in his hands nervously. No, he’d already agreed to this and he’d already gotten these stupid frames fitted around his face plus the prescription in, he wasn’t about to let his anxiety ruin this...but maybe at least seeing Pete Wentz at first would’ve been nice. God, it felt like he was back in high school, getting dragged to parties where underage drinking was all the rage and he had to text the friends to come outside to take him in, he sent the text anyway and chewed nervously on his lip until he saw Pete appear around the corner of the gates. 

“Patrick!” Wentz’s smile was wide and bright, very similar to the hat he was wearing. 

“Hi” he offered his own shy smile as he exited the car.

Jeez, he felt underdressed seeing Pete Wentz now, it wasn’t like he was wearing a suit and tie of course but the cardigan and t-shirt combo Patrick had on felt like comparing Walmart brand to Yves Saint Laurent. 

“I picked a good gift” Pete Wentz hummed as he took Patrick’s mitten-hands in his own, the smug pride on his face made Patrick’s stomach roll for a moment. 

_A precious Dragon might praise themselves on gift choice, this is not meant to be taken as an attempt to pride themselves whilst making their partner feel small but just to simply state that they are happy the partner is satisfied with the present_

“Yea, you did, thanks” Patrick was painfully aware of how awkward and stunted that response was but the dragon’s smugness turned to a look of genuine happiness, just keep in mind what Andy and that book said and this date should be okay “the glasses are nice too, I like them” 

Wentz beamed and squeezed Patrick’s hands before tilting his head “what’s the little box?” 

“Huh? Oh” right the box, Patrick retrieved it from the driver seat and awkwardly held it out “well you got me something so I thought I’d get you something too” 

“You didn’t you have to, this isn’t really a traditional date” Pete Wentz wasn’t fooling him though, not the way Patrick was pretty sure his pupils had dilated a little “what is it though?” 

That made Patrick snort “you’re bad at feigning disinterest. Here, hold your hand out” 

It wasn’t a joke to say Patrick felt his anxiety hitting the roof as he opened the box and handed it to Pete Wentz, the dragon tilted his head curiously as he regarded what lay inside. It was a bracelet, a black leather chord twined around in a braid with a dragon head charm on the end of it while 2 elastic bands of tiger eye beads surrounded it. The bracelet hadn’t been easy to make-yes, make, something he’d read in the precious dragon book encouraged him to find what jewelry-Esque things he had around the house but he’d been proud that it had come out looking at least decent. Pete Wentz’s blank face however was crushing all of that pride as he continued to stare at it, oh shit was he going to think Patrick was cheap? Trying to make up for their last date and here Patric was _making_ something instead of buying something like a sapphire ring or a diamond watch. 

“Did...you make it?” carefully Pete Wentz pulled it from the box and slipped it over his wrist, twisting his arm around before looking at Patrick with a look that...wasn’t disappointed like he expected. 

“I, yeah I did. I thought the tiger’s eye would look nice on you” Patrick’s cheeks heated up “do...is it alright?” 

The look was more familiar now but in the sense of saying you know an actor, it was soft and full of...maybe it was a stretch to say but love felt the best to explain the soft eyes and sweet smile Pete Wentz was giving him.

“It’s beautiful” Pete Wentz surprised Patrick by pulling him close into a brief hug, nuzzling the younger man’s shoulder “you _made_ it for me, of course I love it” 

Oh, that made Patrick’s face burn a little more, was there something more significant to making gifts than buying? He’d have to ask Andy, the book hadn’t said anything about that. Pete Wentz let go of him still beaming, now holding him at arm’s length and keeping Patrick's mitten hands in his own. 

“Just so you know I know this place looks big but it is kinda packed, the outside patio upstairs though is mostly empty. We can chill there if you want?” Pete Wentz sounded like he was talking to an anxious puppy, maybe that was how Patrick looked though

Without really thinking Patrick squeezed the dragon’s hands back with a small smile “you’re here because of your friend right? We don’t have to avoid them just because I don’t like crowds” 

Pete Wentz hummed squeezing Patrick’s hand again before letting one go and walking with him to the building, it felt a little nice to have something to ground himself with. The place really was packed as Pete said when they entered the front door, music that wasn’t necessarily bad but wasn’t to Patrick’s taste was blaring around and people were either chatting away or some were dancing in a different part of the room clearly drunk. That made Patrick laugh a little, his hand was squeezed as he was pulled through the crowd of people towards a stairway, Pete Wentz Patrick noticed as they headed up the stairs seemed to have completely flipped the coin of attitude. 

His whole body was clearly tense, there weren't that many people on the stairs which confused Patrick as to why the dragon’s hold was firm enough to not be painful but still tight enough Patrick wouldn't really pull away without effort, so what was up? When they reached the second floor that answer became more clear, well to a degree that Patrick could guess. As soon as they reached the top steps Pete Wentz’s body became tight as a bow-string and Patrick was pretty sure he heard-or rather felt-a low growl coming from him, without thinking Patrick used his free hand to pull a little on the bracelet before letting it go snapping the dragon’s wrist. That made him jump a little, looking at Patrick confused before blinking owlishly and smiling at him, had he forgotten Patrick was there? 

“Yo Pete!” a guy in a painfully bright yellow jacket pushed his way through people over to the two of them, Patrick wondered if this was Pete Wentz’s friend “there you are, thought you left without saying bye” 

“Nah, just went to grab someone” Pete Wentz nodded to Patrick but he didn't miss how robotic and jerky it seemed “this is Briant, Patrick” 

“Pleasure to meet you” Patrick hoped he didn’t look like an awkward mess

Briant didn’t look repulsed by him thankfully “pretty formal huh? I didn't know Pete was inviting someone, s’cool to meet you. How do you two know each other?” 

_He walked into my store and basically said I’m his boyfriend now_ “I own a record store, W-Pete just happened to come in one day” 

Patrick didn't miss the little huff he heard coming from the man beside him but Briant seemed fine with this answer.

“Oh yeah? Maybe I’ll come in some time, I need to open my collection a bit. Hey Pete, Ash was looking for you by the way. I think he’s upstairs on the patio?” 

Pete Wentz frowned “so he sent you to find me instead of coming himself?” 

“He’s weird dude, you know that” Briant shrugged still smiling 

Patrick rolled his eyes and squeezed the dragon’s hand “go ahead, I’ll be fine. You can come find me again anyway, I’m not going anywhere” 

“You sure?” Patrick gave him a look and Pete Wentz just held a hand up “just checking, I’ll be back in a sec okay?” 

With that Pete Wentz left Patrick standing with Briant, or rather after he left Briant had slipped an arm around Patrick’s shoulder and guided him through the sea of people over to a bar with some seats unoccupied, oh boy. 

“So where’s your record shop?” Briant asked as he half-spun in the chair. 

“West area of downtown, it’s called Spin For You” 

Briant hummed still smiling “catchy name, fitting for a vinyl place. Pete likes records but I didn’t know he’d go somewhere downtown, isn’t that place a little too hipster-ish?” 

“I guess that’s one way of seeing it sure, I just like the location” Patrick shook his head when the bartender walked up to him “so what about you, what do you do?” 

“Guitarist for Except Yellow” Briant’s smile now turned into pompous grin “been playing for about twelve years now” 

“Self-taught?” again the bartender came back and this time Patrick just ordered a mocktail

“Actually our singer taught me, I think I mentioned him earlier? Ash” Briant ordered something that sounded too fancy “so how long have you known Pete?” 

“Oh, not very long” Patrick purposefully took a long sip of his drink in an attempt to come up with something to say “him coming to my record store was us officially meeting in person” 

“Oh really? Work associate then” Briant was leaning on his arm now, the smile on his face was, unfortunately, one Patrick knew a little too well “if I were him I’d rather you be my personal assistant, you’re a joy to be around” 

“That’s very kind of you considering we haven’t talked more than a few minutes” Patrick sat up a little straighter taking another drink “Victoria seems perfectly fine in her job” 

Briant snorted “she’s so stuck-up though, maybe you haven’t seen that part of her yet though. Never mind that though, trash-talking isn’t good get to know you conversations. So what do you outside of the record shop?” 

Honestly not very much “music mostly, I have a million little projects here and there. I’ve scored a few movies and shows, sung in a few too” 

“A musician too! You get better and better” Briant’s grin was bright “mind telling me what you’ve scored? I’d love to hear it. Actually, I could just google it I’m sure” 

“I’m sure” Patrick mumbled finishing off his drink “so how do you know Pete? Did he sign you guys” 

“No way, a precious dragon would _never_ ” Briant laughed, Patrick didn't really get the joke “Pete’s mutual friends with a buddy of our drummer, that’s how we all met. He’s a great guy don’t get us wrong but really I think Ash is happier with Blue Records signing us” 

Blue Recroids huh, Patrick knew them sort of, they were a good record deal “really, I’ve heard good things about Blue Records, their reputation proceeds them” 

Briant sat up straight and looked intrigued “you know them then? So you were signed once upon a time” 

“No,” Patrick said too quickly, for just a split second the party was more intense and the bar was wider with neon lights before coming back to reality “no, I haven’t been signed before. I just know they have a good track history. Where did you say Ash was again?” 

“Top floor, outside patio,” Briant said frowning “Pete’s fine, it’s not like Ash has a knife or something, this isn't an episode of _Lucifer._ You want something stronger to drink? You looked a little pale there” 

“No thanks, I came out here to hang out with Pete and I’d rather be sober” 

Briant hummed, attempting to go back to looking relaxed “if you say so, you don’t look like a lightweight though. So besides music what else should I know about the life of Patrick?” 

That made him frown, was it not obvious Pete Wentz was courting him? Or maybe it had to do with scents again, another question for Professor Hurley “nothing much else really, I’ve got a cat named Hoggle and music is my whole life really” 

“A cat?” Briant wrinkled his nose a little “there’s no hair on your cardigan though, by the way, where did you get it? It’s beautiful, really brings out your eyes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes that blue” 

Yep, it wasn’t obvious 

“Courting gift from Pete, he really knows me,” Patrick said with a genuine smile as he looked down at the pink fabric “the glasses too” 

The air around Briant turned annoyed, the man even tensed a little making Patrick realize Briant was a dragon and his previous comment about being signed by a precious dragon made a little more sense now. 

“Wow, really? Didn’t think Pete was the type to court someone working with him. Shouldn’t relationships be kept professional?” Briant hummed, twirling the straw in his drink around 

“I never said I was working with him, you made that connection yourself” Patrick turned in his chair and stood “I’m gonna go see where he is, it’s been cool talking to you Briant” 

“Hey wait” Briant stood too quickly, a few people talking nearby looked at them “come on, Pete’s a big boy, he’ll be fine. Let’s go out to the pool or something and talk, I’m interested in hearing about the movies you’ve scored” 

“Well let me find Pete first and we can do that” Patrick turned again and started to push past people 

Briant unfortunately was too determined for some reason “I’ll just text him! Come on, Patrick, let’s hang out” 

Patrick didn’t respond this time, this felt like a dragon courting thing he didn’t understand and he was in no mood to accidentally split him and Pete Wentz up before they even had a chance to have a decent good date. Briant was drowned out by the music as Patrick got away from him, finally reaching the staircase upstairs where he found a lot less people mostly chatting and a few smaller groups dancing to more tasteful music. Outside was a patio where people were sitting around eating and Patrick spotted Pete right away, twirling his hat around, talking with a guy about his height that had an almost sunshine yellow jacket and a few other people. Was that a thing with this band? Did they all wear yellow? Patrick shook his head, he just wanted to get to Pete before Briant possibly appeared again. 

As he headed outside it almost felt like a repeat of the restaurant, he stood clearly where Pete could see him yet the dragon was chatting away like Patrick hadn’t just walked up saying his name. There was slight anxiety and slight annoyance, the same feelings of that date starting to creepy in but Patrick took a deep breath and walked around to Pete’s side, if the bracelet slapping worked before maybe it would work again? 

“Pete?” Patrick said again, a little sterner and louder along with gently pulling on the bracelet and letting it go

That did jolt Pete a little and he looked at Patrick, a few emotions flickered across his face before landing on a soft smile “hey” 

“Who’s this?” the sunshine-yellow guy asked, Patrick, didn’t miss the once-over 

“I’m Patrick, Pete’s…” he trailed off, what was appropriate to say? 

“My partner” Pete saved, taking Patrick’s hand in his and smiling at the group that now looked shocked “I wanted to introduce him earlier but Briant said you were looking for me” 

Sunshine-yellow guy (Patrick assumed he was Ash) frowned “well I mean, I _was_ wondering where you went but I wasn't like man-hunting you down. Where is Briant anyway?” 

Pete’s hand tightened and Patrick felt his body tense against his side “downstairs, he wanted to chat with Patrick”

Ash scoffed and looked at Patrick “sorry about him, he’s a dick. Anyway it’s nice to meet you, Patrick, I’m Ashford but I just go by Ash” 

“Nice to meet you too Ash, pretty big party you’ve got going on” the group around them laughed, jeez Patrick was starting to feel like school again “you must be pretty excited to be signed to Blue Records, their track record is amazing” 

“Right?” Ash’s smile looked genuine “we’re all excited, we’ve been hoping for a break like this for a long time. No offense to Pete of course” 

Again the group laughed but now Patrick was wondering if there really was something up with precious dragons and music, or maybe just some bands? 

“How long have you and Pete been together?” a guy asked from the group, Patrick wasn’t sure if he was a dragon or not but again he was being looked over 

“Long enough” Pete answered, he was smiling but it looked off

Apparently, Ash saw this too “I’m happy for you dude, you two look cute together. How’d you meet?” 

“Pete came to my record shop” Patrick for some reason decided to lean into Pete, he wasn’t sure if that was bad body language dragon wise but no one really reacted “he was very charming so I couldn’t say no” 

“You’re being too sweet to me” Pete laughed and squeezed Patrick’s hand “his shop is downtown, it’s definitely got a nice little charm to it. The name’s pretty cute too, Spin For You” 

“I’ll have to come by some time and see it” Ash smiled and Patrick decided maybe he judged too fast. 

The conversation picked up again while Patrick just sort of...leaned into Pete, it was actually comfortable and the hat somewhat shaded Patrick from the sun. This wasn’t a date by traditional means, that much was obvious, but when Patrick tilted his head a little to look at Pete talking and smiling it felt...nice, it felt nice to just be there with Pete. plus so far he hadn’t really upset Patrick, he’d paid attention even if it was essentially like spray-bottling him and he seemed almost proud to be Patrick's partner. 

“Oh Petey, where’d you get that bracelet?” a woman reached over and grabbed Pete’s hand, turning his arm around “it’s so cute, I love the charm” 

Pete pulled his hand back and covered the bracelet with his other hand, for a split second Patrick saw slit pupils “Patrick made it for me” 

Now all eyes were on him again, he tried not to squirm about it “There’s this bead store close to my record store, I thought it would really nice on Pete” 

“That’s so romantic” the woman sighed with a dreamy smile “you have such a cute boyfriend Pete” 

“Partner” Pete corrected, almost sounding annoyed 

“What’s the shop’s name? My boyfriend would love something like that, do they make them in blue?” another of the crowd asked, the guy looked too slick for Patrick’s liking 

“I _made_ it, you’d have to make the bracelet yourself, this place can just provide you with the beads and everything else” _Now_ Patrick did fidget, why were they all looking at him so surprised now? “You can find google tutorials on how to make bracelets” 

“You actually did make it” the woman again reached to grab Pete’s arm but Pete growling quite loudly made her snatch her hand back “that’s...so surprising, the craftsmanship is amazing” 

“Yeah it is” Pete looped his arm around Patrick’s waist making him tense a little “we’re gonna go grab a drink real quick, nice talking with you Ash” 

Patrick said his name as he was pulled back inside, partially confused because why had Pete gotten so defensive and also annoyed because this dragon business was really starting to get on his nerves again. Briant seemed to have disappeared at least so that was nice for Patrick, Pete leaned against the bar sighing once they reached it and let go of Patrick’s hand. 

“What the hell was their deal” Patrick waited for a moment before reaching over to pull the bracelet, this time the smack was a little louder and Pete did cry out “ _what_ was their deal?” 

“That hurts you know,” Pete said, rubbing his wrist with a low growl “it’s not important okay-”

“Don’t you fucking even say that” Patrick snapped, the bartender that had started to come over made a beeline back to the other side “what’s the difference between a boyfriend and a partner? And why are they acting so surprised I took time to do something for you” 

Pete stopped rubbing his wrist and looked...defeated almost, he started to open his mouth but closed it before shaking his head “I’m...I don’t wanna make this date bad” 

As much as that was probably supposed to be sweet all it did was irritate Patrick “you already screwed that up by not talking to me” 

“I am talking to you!” the bartender came back with the mocktail Patrick ordered earlier, Pete grabbed the glass and took a passive-aggressive swig before looking at Patrick again “I don’t-I’m not sure how to explain this to you without making it sound bad” 

Patrick huffed and crossed his arms “you’re not making your case good right now Wentz, I was-this date was great and now it seems like me actually being your partner which I don’t understand the different still seems entirely farfetched” 

Pete’s silence almost screamed the answer, eyes downcast at his drink and fingers toying with the beads; if it wasn’t for the music blasting and people talking he almost looked like the picture of some sad mystery novel. Then Patrick recalled it, all those rumors about Pete Wentz and his playboy tendencies, all those preconceived notions Patrick had that seemed ages ago now; standing in a party full of what he decided to be mostly dragons, Patrick was starting to wonder if unlike their name precious dragons weren’t as shiny as they seemed. 

“It means a lot to me, that you made me this” Pete looked up at him again with a sad smile “it’s not _you_ that they’re judging and if it is then fuck’em” 

That suddenly jarred something to Patrick, Pete noticed as his smile dropped quickly “You’ve been talking normal to me” 

There was a terrified look that crossed Pete’s face, genuine terror “I apologize, I hadn’t realized-”

“Hey” Patrick stepped closer and placed his hand on Pete’s arm stopping him “I’m not complaining, I like it. When it’s when your vernacular is all...I guess Dicken’s posh with me it makes me feel like crap, if want to know _you_ Pete and if the real you doesn’t talk like that I’m happy with this” 

The shaky smile returned “If...honestly if you want to I will tell you what their reaction was all about in a quieter place, not saying you started it but Ash is kind of being a dick right now. I’m pretty sure he’s jealous of me” 

Patrick snorted “right, jealous. Really if you do want to get out of here that’s fine with me, I just need to pee first” 

Pete wrinkled his nose “you’re gross, I think there’s a bathroom over there though” 

Again wading through people Patrick found himself smiling, this strangely felt like a breakthrough for them; yes he was still annoyed and expected Pete to explain things when they left the party but now that Pete was talking to him normally it felt like whatever barrier was there (or maybe Patrick had made it up) had a layer going down. This happy bubble of his was destroyed as he finished up his bathroom business and ran right into Briant. 

“Patrick! There you are, Ash said you and Pete came back down here” 

Patrick bristled a little “oh, cool, sorry but me and Pete are actually heading out now” 

“What? Come on, you just got here! Stick around a little longer, mingle with people” okay Patrick wasn’t _that_ much of a catch surely, Briant’s grin was almost a plastic one at this point “seriously, just because Pete’s leaving doesn’t mean you have to, it’s not like you’re serious right?”

Wrong thing to say “ _what_ exactly does that mean? ‘Cause even Ash and his friends seem pretty surprised that me and Pete are courting” 

Briant had the sense to back up a step, even putting his hands up “hey, hey, sorry, look if you guys want to call it courting sure but really do you not know why we’re all surprised?” Patrick’s silence was an obvious yes “dude, come on, you’re human. You smell amazing and I’m surprised Pete hasn’t like, moved in on you yet but you’re not a dragon and no offense Patrick but even if you _were_ you probably wouldn’t be a precious dragon” 

“You know if you intended to steal me away from Pete you’re doing a shit job” Patrick snarled before turning on heel fast and shoving his way through people.

Pete was talking with the bartender, all smiles and laughs looking less stressed now, Patrick felt guilty as that smile quickly faded seeing him.

“Hey what’s-”

“Can we go now please?” Patrick was shaking a little, the acid of what Briant said and the loudness of the party was starting to get to him.

Pete was more concerned about him than leaving however “Patrick hey, what happened, did someone do something?” 

“Yes, yeah, I’ll tell you when we leave _please”_ Patrick wasn’t sure why he did but he reached over and slipped part of his hand under the bracelet, it was starting to be more of a grounding thing for him than Pete “this place is starting to get too crowded for me” 

“Okay, okay, come on then” Pete twisted his arm around to hold Patrick’s hand instead and squeezed gently. 

Thankfully there were no more Briant appearances, the two paused once they were outside the gates to take a breather which Patrick admittedly needed, next time they weren’t going to a party this big. Pete rubbed over his face a few times making small growling noises (kind of sounding like an English bulldog Patrick noticed) before letting out a heavy sigh and turned to Patrick probably to ask where he wanted to go next. 

  
  


That was interrupted by Ash appearing from the gates “Pete hey, wait, are you really leaving?” 

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you and your friends haven’t been too welcoming to my partner” Pete growled, this time his eyes did turn more reptilian “I’m not making Patrick stay somewhere where he’s had a pretty shit time” 

Ash looked genuinely taken aback, looking between the two before skeptically saying “Briant wasn’t lying then, you’re actually courting?”

Pete let out a sound that made Patrick jump, a growl that sounded like dragons from fantasy movies only real. 

Quickly Patrick hopped in “I don’t know what preconceived notions or whatever it is that has everyone thinking it’s impossible for Pete and me to be together but you need to rethink your life from it. Good luck in your music career”  
  


Ash looked almost insulted now, serves him right Patrick thought as he pulled Pete over to his car leaving the other dragon standing in the yard. It didn’t really occur to Patrick that Pete might’ve driven there himself, he just guided Pete to the passenger side and drove a few streets away before parking and looking over at Pete. 

“So...did you by chance drive there because I think it’d be pretty awkward for me to drive back and drop you off again” Patrick finally said, trying to lighten the mood a little. 

It worked a little, Pete let out a hollow laugh rubbing at his face again “fuck, I’m sorry, I was hoping...I thought this date would be fun” 

“It was” Patrick assured him, he reached over and squeezed Pete’s arm “you’re actually trying for me this time, that’s more than can be said about the restaurant. It’s not your fault if people are assholes but...can we talk about please why it seems so farfetched you’d court someone? Does it have to do with me being human”

Pete sighed and stared up at the roof of the car for a few moments “yeah, we should talk...and to answer the earlier question no I actually got picked up by Ash. We should probably talk somewhere a little more private but I think it’s still too early to go to either of our houses, so...grab something to eat and find a park?” 

Park and fast food, sounded like a nice idea


	6. Chapter 6

“Where do I start” Pete mumbled while poking at chili fries 

They’d found a table someone had dragged closer to the park lake, Patrick sat across him munching on his own cheesy fries and waiting for an explanation on...well everything that happened. Pete continued messing with his fries until they were a much less appetizing mess then sighed, scooping several fries up to munch on then finally spoke. 

“So you already had preconceived notions of me before I stepped into your record store” Pete seemed to be waiting for an answer, Patrick only awkwardly nodded “well they weren't’...necessarily wrong, assuming it was tabloid things” 

Patrick took a few moments to think his words out “no one believed you when you said we were courting, is that really such a hard thing to believe with you?” 

Pete let out a pained laugh “if you only believe in tabloids? Yeah, it is a hard thing for me. In the dragon world? It’s...complicated” 

Patrick frowned “complicated how” 

Again Pete seemed to shut down, turning his attention back to the chili fry mess and momentarily frustrating Patrick, did this have to do with everyone bringing up Pete being a precious dragon several times? ‘

“You know how you said you wanted me to actually talk with you?” Pete asked quietly, looking back up at Patrick now with that weird unreadable look “I don’t...it’s complicated ‘cause I don’t...I’m not really ready to talk to you about that yet-please don’t get mad, let me explain” 

Patrick closed his mouth as soon as Pete asked, was it that personal of a thing? 

“Then answer me this, why did everyone keep bringing up that you’re a precious dragon?” 

Pete growled at that “same reason as that prick at the restaurant, some people are still in the mentality that _precious dragons_ are up on a hierarchy list or some shit” 

Patrick hummed unsurprised, then glanced at Pete’s hands and noticed something “your nails aren’t done” 

“Huh?” Pete blinked then glanced down, to Patrick’s confusion he hid them under the table “I didn't um, I didn’t want to flaunt money. My assistant said that’d probably piss you off again if I did” 

“That’s the stupidest thing” although Patrick had to admit the first time he hadn’t reacted well to Pete’s amethyst nails if they made him happy then fine “look I do appreciate _you_ understanding that the money flaunting does upset me but if you like getting your nails done go ahead. Just do me a favor and don’t ask me to do that too” 

Pete gave him a small smile and returned his hands to the table “okay...back to what I was saying though, people still have that mentality. Precious dragons in the industry don’t want to deal with other dragons sometimes, they still think only other precious dragons are worth the time and effort to sign them. Except Yellow unfortunately have that mentality too, probably was how they were raised” 

“How-” Patrick choked on that question, nope _way_ too personal “how’d you meet them then if they don’t think you can fraternize with them?” 

“Mutual friend with their drummer” Pete frowned and titled his head a little “are you alright? Did you choke on your fries just now” 

“I’m fine, swallowed wrong. Briant mentioned you knew each other through a mutual friend, then mentioned that a precious dragon would never sign up a band like them” 

Pete rolled his eyes “yeah, Briant’s not too happy about them getting signed by Blue Records. Like I said before some record deals run by precious dragons don’t want to sign anyone _but_ precious dragons, it’s total bullshit if you ask me. So many try and excuse it as ‘oh they’re not good’ or ‘they just aren’t ready’ but most of the time? It’s because of the type of dragons they are” 

“You don’t then?” Patrick winced, that was a shitty thing to ask 

“No, I try and give chances. If I was only biased on who’s what dragon and what human smells good or whatever then I’d rather give up my record deal and be a hermit” 

Patrick ‘hmmed at that “that’s nice to hear at least that you’re not biased” 

Pete looked like he wanted to say something about that, instead he just looked at the bracelet on his wrist “another thing about precious dragons....back when dragons and humans were starting to integrate with each other I guess history-well no, I don’t guess, history says that it took some number of precious dragons as a species to finally fully integrate. I don’t know if anyone mentioned it but even now there's still precious dragons who think dating a human much less courting one is _below_ them” 

“Oh” Patrick recoiled a little at the growl Pete let out at the end, Briant’s comment rang louder in his ears now “so given...whatever tabloids said about you and you being a precious dragon you actually liking me is like a fish swimming through the air” 

Pete sighed “yeah unfortunately. You making the bracelet didn’t help-shit that sounded bad, I meant Ash and his friends probably thought that by you making me this I was leading you on something” 

“And that something would be?” Patrick wasn’t really in the mood to play guessing games, he also wanted more fries but that could wait 

“My very shitty past that the press love to bring up every now and then” Pete grumbled, like before his eyes turned reptilian for a second “it doesn’t matter who I meet the tabloids already spoke and it always follows me somewhere. I haven’t dated anyone for a while and flings much less so, I don’t really have time to fuck around like that anymore” 

That was nice to hear at least, Patrick knew he himself wasn’t innocent though in believing the tabloids but for now he’d ignore all that, Pete probably knew that he’d believed it before anyway. Conversation paused then when Pete noticed Patrick was out of fries, saying they could go get more and the younger man took that as a hint that Pete didn’t wanna talk anymore about dragons. 

*

“You look better in my hat than me”

Patrick blushed and glanced at Pete, the dragon had a fond smile on his face “you didn’t have to give me the hat” 

Pete shrugged “you said the sun was in your eyes, unless you have shades around you’re going to have to be cute with my hat” 

Patrick rolled his eyes taking a much out of his sandwich, they’d ended up stopping at a restaurant and were seated outside, it wasn’t fancy-schmancy like the seafood restaurant but he’d still been hesitant about not going back to the park. 

“How come you wore a hat anyway? You were inside, it wasn’t like there was any sunlight” Patrick reached up and fiddled with the brim, the hat was very soft 

“For looks of course” Pete looked pretty prideful “it looked good on me didn’t it?” 

Patrick hummed and smirked “whatever floats your boat, Mr. Peacock” 

Pete stuck his tongue out at Patrick resulting in “are you 5” and fries being tossed at him, after laughing Pete started to say something about peacocks but Patrick was really only vaguely listening; when had he started to think of Pete as Pete and not Pete Wentz? That was pretty fast wasn’t it, he mused on that before realizing that Pete was looking at him. 

“You totally weren’t paying attention” Pete didn’t sound offended to Patrick’s relief, instead he had a goofy grin on his face “what were you thinking about?” 

“Just names” Pete quirked a brow and made a small ‘go-on’ motion “your name” 

“Mine? What about it” Pete laughed but Patrick heard the anxiety in it

“Just...how it sounds” Patrick could already feel his soul curling into a ball, oh god this was a grave he needed to hop out of “it sounds nice” 

Pete looked like he was trying not to laugh, however he was failing at not grinning “are nice-sounding names something you like?” 

  
“Shut up, you make it sound weird. I was just thinking about names and how yours sounds nice” Patrick grumpily took a big bite of his sandwich 

“Hmm, which part sounds nice?” oh christ he wasn’t letting this go, Pete laughed even at the glare Patrick shot him “I like how your name rolls nicely with mine” 

“What do I have to do to make you drop the name thing?” 

Pete shrugged still smiling, Patrick noticed his eyes crinkled when he did “c’mon Patrick, teasing you is fun. But if you're serious about what you can do then can I make a request?” 

“A request? That sounds suspicious” Pete didn’t bat an eye, in fact he looked even more amused “what is it” 

“Could you um...could I have another bracelet?” Pete fiddled with his looking almost shy now “I mean-it’s not really traditional to make requests gift wise since that’s usually requesting date areas or things to be on the date but I really like this and I’m not sure if you know what it means that you hand-made it-” 

“I’d be fine with that” apparently now that Patrick told Pete he’d rather him not talk like a dictionary that meant rambling “I’m glad you like it and you’re right, I don’t quite understand the importance of it...is that why it was so surprising?”

Pete winced, Patrick figured he didn’t want to continue their previous conversation but it was still bothering him. 

“Yeah um...before stores and malls dragons would make things to court. Some people still do it and nowadays in our modern era to hand-make something for your partner is sort of a way to say that you’re very serious about the courting” Pete talked slowly, not looking at Patrick anymore and sounding...well he wasn’t sure what “like I said, they didn’t think you were my partner. You asked what the difference was? It’s just a title really but ‘boyfriend’ just means you’re momentary and ‘partner’ means I’d... “ 

Pete trailed off, Patrick now noticing a red tint to his face, he was pretty when he blushed the younger man thought but that train went right back to the dragon trailing off; means that he’d what? Was more serious about their relationship, was at least...not going to drop him off so fast? Patrick decided that thinking too much on it was just going to drive him crazy and probably back to being hostile towards Pete again, he’d just ask Andy or look it up himself. 

“Forget them, I’m human so whatever dragon drama is going on can stuff it” Pete looked surprised at that, Patrick just smiled at him “and for the record? I really like this date, sure it started with a hitch but I like it. I like that you’re talking to me” 

_I like you_ hung in the air but Patrick still felt like one good date wasn’t quite enough to fix the mess yet. 

Pete smiled and reached over to take Patrick’s hand, this time it sent a weird tingle up his arm “awesome” 

* * *

“ _ So how’d it go?”  _ Joe was leaning back into the couch looking like he was trying to melt into it “ _ you look pretty happy”  _

“Hello to you too” Patrick mumbled, adjusting the laptop screen before setting to his research “it was great, not how either of us imagined at first but we ended up eating at a restaurant and taking a walk. Pete’s...a cool guy, like you said” 

“ _ Told you he was, that’s good the date went well though. So what was the hitch? Showing off too much money?”  _

Patrick laughed “no actually, I was terrified he’d hate the bracelet but...he actually really liked it. The party though was a shit show, two of the band members kinda seemed like dicks. The guitarist kept trying to move in on me and the singer and his friends found it hard to believe that Pete was serious about me” 

Joe snorted “ _ dickheads though that doesn’t surprise me, everyone thinking  _ every  _ precious dragon is a dick and all that. What about the guy that tried creeping on you?”  _

“He kept talking about how Pete can’t actually like me because I’m human but I’m sure that he also thought the precious dragon thing was a factor” Patrick paused mid clicking on a blog post about gemstones and precious dragons, for a moment the memory of the bar kicked back in “he was very enthusiastic about music” 

“ _ You paused, what’d he say for real”  _

Patrick looked at the keys, some of the letters were faded, then shrugged “just...a memory came back, just for a second” 

Joe sat up a little straighter, usually a ‘memory’ wasn't good “ _ do you wanna talk?”  _

“No, it was just brief, just of a bar. Do you think Pete would like Tourmaline?” Patrick had opened a 6th tab to the bead store, they were having a sale on precious gems

“ _ Right, got it. I mean he’s a dragon, part of him probably wants to grab shiny things and stuff them in his closet or drawer, go for it. Are you making him another bracelet?”  _ again Joe turned into soup 

“Mhm, he actually requested it...hey, does me being human and Pete not have to do with another status thing?” 

“ _ You guessed it, Stump, but seriously fuck those guys”  _ but because Joe knew Patrick again he sat up a little and started talking “ _ you giving Pete something hand-made is pretty big, from what I understand because humans weren’t like dragons and you couldn’t give them actual fire or some kind of mystical thing they had to start improvising. I feel like a tool saying this but lower dragons which I guess means betas and omegas who weren’t precious dragons were already making things for each other and eventually the alphas adopted this idea to start making things for humans”  _

“So I was basically giving him an old-world kind of gift that’s like...close to just giving him my heart?” he didn’t think he understood that correctly but Joe didn’t seem to be arguing it 

“ _ If those dragons at the party were shocked or something it’s probably because Pete’s a playboy”  _

“He’s not anymore” Patrick decided to believe Pete when he said he didn’t goof around anymore 

“ _ Not  _ now,  _ Patrick, but he used to be. With a track record like that and taking into account dragons still have the hierarchy bullshit in their minds they probably thought Pete was leading you on”  _

“They’re wrong” Patrick closed 5 of the tabs returning to the blog post “I’m going to have to start paying your boyfriend to give me dragon lessons. Oh by the way, I might have a lead on the demo thief, Pete’s assistant got back to me about it and gave me the email. To be honest it seems like a throw-away email but I’m gonna try and see how whoever this was found my stuff” 

“ _ If it’s a hacker you’re screwed but then again why would they only take your demos?” _

“I’m not sure but you’re the one who thought it uh….p….” Patrick frowned at an email notification “um, hang on a second there detective Trohman, someone just emailed me” 

“ _ Maybe it’s your hacker”  _

Patrick scoffed and clicked on the new link, there was something familiar about the email in a way the old instinct to run from something scary felt familiar, the subject only read  **_Payment_ ** , it wasn’t until Patrick read the message (if you can even call it one) that it felt like someone injected ice into his veins. 

_ Patrick Stump  _

_ You owe me for everything that’s happened, if it weren’t for me that pretentious Wentz wouldn’t even notice you  _

_ I want my payment and I want it now  _


End file.
